The Jackson ADR Handbook

Abstract The first edition of this Handbook was written to fulfil a recommendation by Jackson LJ in his Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report that there should be an authoritative handbook on alternative dispute resolution. The first edition laid a strong foundation as an authoritative guide to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), receiving judicial endorsement from the Court of Appeal. Subsequent editions built upon that success, becoming a syllabus text prescribed by the Bar Standards Board for the centrally set Civil Litigation and Evidence assessment. More than a decade on, the use of ADR is increasingly embedded in dispute resolution in England and Wales, with the Master of the Rolls and the Ministry of Justice implementing reforms that place the use of ADR alongside litigation, to seek to provide an appropriate process for each dispute. This fully revised fourth edition integrates important new case law, including the landmark case of Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (2023), in which the Court of Appeal decided a court can order parties to engage in a non-court-based dispute resolution process, provided the right to a trial remains. Key changes in court rules and Pre-Action Protocols are also covered. The book provides an in-depth overview of the options and principles for ADR, placing them firmly within the context of litigation, and looking in detail at the relevant court rules and legal principles, such as privacy and legal professional privilege, as well as practical topics such as how to prepare for and what happens during mediation and recording and enforcing settlements.