LADR is entirely flexible on costs.

The Clerks and the Chambers Administrator are fully conversant with the needs of our professional as well as our lay clients and will discuss the needs and constraints of each case individually.

However, purely as a guideline, the cost of the mediation will be governed either by the amount of time estimated for the actual mediation together with reading or preparation time, or alternatively by the value of the claim, whether in purely monetary terms, or in terms of importance to the parties.

In terms of time, the parties should take as a guideline the sum of £1,000 (that is, £500 payable by each of two parties) for an average mediation taking one full day, consisting of 8 hours of mediation and not more than 4 hours of reading/preparation.

Insofar as value is concerned, a sliding scale of charges for mediation, including preparation time, which might apply in some cases, is set out below.

Value of Claim	Fees
£5,000 or less	£250 (2 hours)
£5,000 to £15,000	£500 (3 hours)
Up to £15,000	£750 (1 day)
£15,000 to £100,000	£1,500 (1 day)
£100,000 to £500,000	£2,000 (1 day)
£500,000 to £2m	£3,000 (1 day)
Above £2m	Negotiable

There are some occasions when a case has no clear monetary value but is none the less important to the parties. In such cases a fee will be agreed according to the complexity of the dispute.

Is Legal Aid Available For Mediation?

All LADR mediators are entitled to have their reasonable fees paid for as a disbursement under Legal Help funding.

The following is an extract from the Legal Services Funding Code Manual Funding Code Guidance R11:December 2003 ADR 84:-

7.7 Supporting Non-Family Mediation
The Commission supports the wider use of mediation to resolve disputes.
Non-family mediation may be funded as a disbursement under Legal Help, Legal Representation or Support Funding.
No prior authority is necessary to mediate a non-family dispute but, like all other fees, the cost of mediating must be reasonable in all the circumstances.
Therefore mediation should only be funded where it appears to be the most cost-effective way of proceeding and where the fees of the mediator are reasonable in all the circumstances. The Commission will give further guidance as to remuneration for mediators in due course but, as a general starting point, non-family mediators will need to justify any rates in excess of prescribed basic remuneration rates for lawyers providing county court advocacy under certificates for Legal Representation.
It is also important that only properly trained mediators are funded under the CLS. There are at present no national agreed quality standards for non-family mediation, although a new standard within the Quality Mark is due to be introduced for Community Mediators during 2001. Pending further developments, mediators trained or accredited by any of the following bodies will for the time being be regarded as suitably qualified and capable of being funded under certificates:
(a) CEDR (Centre for Dispute Resolution);
(b) ADR Group;
(c) Mediation UK;
(d) The Academy of Experts;
(e) The School of Psychotherapy and Counselling Regent’s College (SPC)
Mediators trained by other bodies may still qualify for funding but will need to satisfy the Commission that they have appropriate training and expertise.

For a full copy of the Legal Services Funding Code Manual, see: http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/docs/stat_and_guidance/funding_code_guidance_r11.pdf

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