Some years ago I was involved in a mediation involving a dispute arising out of allegedly negligent professional work (not mine!).

I had been aware of mediation, but never experienced it in practice. Although, as surveyors, we often come close to mediation in its most informal sense; this can occur when dealing with difficult clients’ unrealistic expectations and where the surveyor facilitates a transaction, rather than purely advocates for one party.

Mediation can be described as "assisted negotiation" and comes under the umbrella of ADR. Cynics have described it as "Alarming Drop in Revenues", but I will refrain from making comments about litigious practitioners.

The mediation I became involved in was an interesting experience provoking personal feelings amongst those taking part. One person was flying in from Northern Ireland and his plane was delayed.

I suppose we were all rather wound up by a late start in fairly acrimonious circumstances.

The skill of the mediator and the charm of the Irish saw the matter amicably settled by mid afternoon and I think at that point I became sold on the idea of mediation.

Some years before (prior to the 1996 Arbitration Act) I acted as an Arbitrator in a matter involving mesne profits and dilapidations where the legal fees on both sides far exceeded the claim.

Upon pointing this out, the solicitors responded that the whole matter was no longer about the claim, but essentially about the costs.

I privately wondered whether they had had that conversation with clients and I think that you have to view such a situation with some sadness.

More recently I was involved in a mediation where the claim eventually settled at a figure close to that which I had advanced prior to the mediation, but where the matter was close to going to Court.

Referral to mediation at an earlier stage would have resulted in significant cost savings The cheque my client wrote contained a greater sum in respect of costs and interest than the net value of the claim.

Part of the discussion involved the estimation of costs, which were set to triple if the matter proceeded to trial. If you have not recently had experience of actually taking that step of going to Court – the costs can be a shockingly large sum!

Against this background I signed up for the RICS Introduction to Mediation Course held at Warwick University last autumn and I thoroughly recommend it.

The course was reasonably fast-paced and very enjoyable with a great deal of role playing and a good taste of what mediation is actually like in practice.

The attendees were Chartered Surveyors from diverse backgrounds and as a result of the role playing and interaction we bonded well as a group and got to know each other.

A two day commitment does seem a tall order in a busy schedule, but all those on the course felt that it was worthwhile and I certainly am aiming to go further forward with mediation.

Mediation is not a universal panacea and indeed is not suitable for every type of dispute. However, you may well be penalised for not attempting mediation, although there are some circumstances in which you may justifiably reject a call for mediation – do you know what those are? A two day mediation course helps to answer such questions.

It is possible to win a case in Court, but lose on costs, or to have some other version of the classic Pyrrhic victory.

Recommended reading should start with the case of Jarndyce –v- Jarndyce (Bleak House – Charles Dickens).

Quite apart from anything else my own personal experience of mediation is the experience of being involved in the formation of the solution rather than having a solution imposed upon you – as has been the case with my recent experiences in County Court where we "won" on a lease renewal, but where the Judge clearly did not understand valuation subtleties even though these were carefully explained.