LIDW 2026: What Next for the UK as a Leading Centre for Dispute Resolution? Arbitration, Mediation, the Courts and Commercial Reality - 39 Essex Chambers

ADR continues to evolve as a central pillar of commercial dispute resolution. This event will examine the latest developments in mediation in the UK and internationally, considering judicial trends, legislative reform, and market practice. The panel will explore how the courts, government and institutions are redefining dispute resolution in the UK, and how transparency, party autonomy, and the convergence of arbitration, mediation, court procedure and legislative reform may be part of the next phase for the UK.

Date and Time

Wednesday 3rd June

11.30am – 1pm, followed by lunch and refreshments

Venue 

39 Essex Chambers, 81 Chancery Lane, WC2A 1DD

About the Event

The session will consider what the UK is doing now and could do next to make it a more attractive jurisdiction. This will include themes such as transparency and the pilot Practice Direction 51ZH, Access to Public Domain Documents, ,core mediation principles including whether, and how, to embed them further, and what can be learned from other jurisdictions. It will also address what these mean in practice for practitioners and in-house counsel in commercial disputes.

Drawing on international experience from jurisdictions with a Mediation Act, the panel will consider what statutory frameworks have achieved elsewhere, and how they address these issues.

The discussion will explore the growing integration of arbitration and mediation, including hybrid models such as Arb-Med-Arb and tribunal-led settlement initiatives. The panel will assess how mediation is being embedded within arbitration frameworks, the implications for enforceability and due process, and how institutions and practitioners are responding to commercial demand for procedural flexibility.