Lawyers and Mediation (PDF)

Dr Bryan Clark is a Professor in the Law School, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and an Adjunct Professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.  He is an academic lawyer and mediation scholar and holds a PhD from the University of Glasgow, an LLM from the University of Dundee and a BA from the Robert Gordon University.  He has published widely in the fields of mediation and the role of lawyers and courts therein, civil dispute resolution and company law and delivered numerous academic and professional conference and seminar papers on these topics both at home and abroad.  He is a member of the Academic Committee of the Civil Mediation Council for England and Wales and the Accreditation and Validation Panel for Relationships Scotland (family mediation and counselling service).

"Professor Clark has written a balanced and nuanced book about the engagement of the legal profession with mediation. A bonus is that the book is written in a very accessable style. The content covers the most important aspects of the sometimes ambivalent relationship between the legal profession and mediation. Anyone who is considering the future of lawyers and mediation is advised to read this book" (Martin Brink [NMI, IMI, CEDR certified mediator, The Netherlands], Amazon, September 2012)

"To this reviewer’s mind, there is no greater indication of a “disturbance in the force” of legal practice than when books like this one are published – and for the avoidance of all doubt, this is a compliment […] This tome is an excellent contribution to the writing related to mediation. In a field where books about mediation and representation of mediation are, if not plentiful, at least commonplace, this book aspires to be more. As its author […] states in the preface: “This book is not a practice guide not a ‘how to’ manual.” Instead it seeks to “tread a cautious and balanced path through the thorny terrain of the lawyer’s relationship with, role within and on the fringes of mediation.” That the author is neither a practising lawyer nor mediator only lends to the legitimacy of the views being balanced […] the fairness of the views in the book shine through. […] It is difficult to do justice to a work such as this in the limited space of this review. It is hoped that any shortcomings in this review is made up for by the following closing remarks. This is an excellent book […] a valuable resource for educators, policy-makers and those whose mission is to promote and develop mediation." (Joel Lee, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore Asian Journal on Mediation, November 2012)

"Clark... frame[s] mediation development as a platform between two competing interests: advocates for judicial efficiency and advocates for disputant