Originally from World Arbitration And Mediation Review (WAMR)

Preview Page

NADJA ALEXANDER’S WORLDWIDE

PERSPECTIVES ON MEDIATION
INTERVIEW WITH UK MEDIATOR
MICHAEL LEATHES
by Nadja Alexander∗

If at first an idea is not absurd, there is no hope for it.
-Albert Einstein

Nadja Alexander interviews Michael Leathes,+ a corporate ADR
proponent.
Alexander: Can you describe your professional role and how it relates
to international mediation?
Leathes: I have been an in-house counsel for most of my 36-year
career, including general counsel of Pfizer International and of International
Distillers & Vintners and general manager of BAT’s intellectual property
company. In all these roles I have been responsible for litigation portfolios
internationally—in total, thousands of cases. Before I figured out a better
way, I’m certain that I must have been responsible for about as many losses
as wins. Then, in the late 80s, I discovered mediation…
A: And what happened?
L: Together with the teams of people I was leading, we resolved the
majority of our cases through negotiation, assisted by a neutral or, more
frequently, through the application of interest-based negotiation techniques.
Often, we proposed settlement talks. This reduced our risk profile
considerably and saved a lot of cost. It also earned us a reputation of being
people who want to resolve, people you can talk to.
A: Tell me about the changes that you have seen in international dispute
resolution during the past five years.