The Lord Chancellor is acting cautiously with regard to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in civil, as opposed to family, disputes.

But in the last year there have been a number of significant developments:-- In his Access to Justice Report, Lord Woolf has given strong support to the use of ADR.-- In December 1995, the Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) published a booklet called 'Resolving disputes without going to court'.

This is a useful introduction for both solicitors and their clients.-- Practice directions in the Queen's Bench, Chancery and Commercial Courts now require parties to indicate on checklists whether they have considered ADR before trial.-- The Lord Chancellor has specifically approved two court-related pilot projects: a mediation pilot scheme in the Central London County Court and a mediation and arbitration project at the Patents County Court.THE CENTRAL LONDON COUNTY COURT SCHEMEThe Central London County Court scheme was launched in May 1996 and will last about a year.

The project owes much to the enthusiasm of His Honour Judge Neil Butter.

The opportunity to mediate is offered to both parties for every claim with a monetary value of over £3,000 when a defence is filed.

If both parties take up the offer, a three hour mediation session follows.

Trained mediators are provided by the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution (CEDR), the ADR Group, Mediation UK, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Academy of Experts.

The cost of mediation for the pilot project is £25 per party.By early December 1996, 38 mediations had taken place and 20 more were in the pipeline, with a majority of cases reaching settlement at the mediation.

The scheme can be used by both litigants in person and represented parties.

Although it is designed to operate at an early stage in the proceedings when a defence is filed, parties are not prevented from asking the court to arrange a mediation at a later date.Each party bears its own mediation costs, unless they agree otherwise.

Although legal aid is not currently available for mediation this may change as both Lord Woolf and the legal aid white paper suggest mediation should be available to the legally aided.THE PATENTS COUNTY COURT SCHEMEThe Patents County Court scheme operates from the same building but is quite different in concept.

This project was launched on 1 October 1996 and is planned to run initially for two years.

Both mediation and arbitration services are offered.

Being a stand alone scheme, it is not necessary for proceedings to have been issued to use the service.

Parties choose their mediator or arbitrator from lists of intellectual property specialists.Costs arrangements for the mediation scheme are a minimum cost of £50 for preparation and a three hour session, with supplementary fees being charged by the hour for longer.

For the arbitration scheme, the minimum fee is £250 for preparation and a two hour hearing, plus supplementa ry fees for longer hearings.WHAT MEDIATION OFFERSResponses to invitations to take part in the Central London County Court scheme suggest some solicitors are very cautious, or even unwilling, to mediate their cases.This may be based on misunderstandings about exactly what mediation is and what it can offer.-- Mediation is not just another way of deciding disputes -- it is not an adjudicatory process.-- Agreement to mediate is not a sign of the solicitor taking a poor view of the client's case.

It shows a genuine desire to settle it.-- Mediations are conducted on a 'without prejudice' basis -- parties can instruct the mediator not to pass on confidential information.-- Some practitioners also seem to think that mediation adds nothing to competent negotiations between solicitors.

However, skillful 'shuttle diplomacy' by experienced mediators can often help the parties find common ground, sometimes by including non-legal elements in the agreement.-- There is concern that 'official' approval of mediation by the LCD and the courts could be motivated mainly by a desire to reduce the costs of litigation and therefore solicitors' incomes.

But there is evidence that many citizens are very reluctant to embark on litigation through fear of costs.

There is also a clear role for legal advisers in many mediations.-- Mediation would only add to the costs if the dispute was not settled at the mediation, or the mediation failed to reduce the issues in dispute.Clearly, mediation will not be appropriate in every case.

If there are novel or important points of law to be decided, if the case is a test case or one of public interest, if an injunction is being sought, or where one of the parties is not prepared to discuss a settlement or reach reasonable agreement, litigation may be appropriate.

But it is important that solicitors discuss with clients at an early stage the available options for settling disputes, particularly mediation, if proceedings are being issued in the Central London County Court or if the case has been transferred there.