Andrew Paton

Practice Areas

Over 35 years dispute resolution experience. Former partner with Pinsent Masons LLP. A highly respected practitioner widely recognised as a leader for large commercial claims. Andrew enjoys a very busy commercial mediation practice in areas including, commercial contract, company/shareholders, construction and engineering, employment, professional negligence and property. Claim values range from tens of thousands of pounds to tens of millions.

He features in the top bands of both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners and is listed in the international directory Who's Who Legal. The directories describe him as follows:‘ A master of his craft, who helps parties get deals done.‘ ‘One of the longest serving and most experienced mediators on the circuit, and his experience shows in the way he is able to cope with challenging situations and chart a way through them. He is very thorough but never loses sight of the wood for the trees – he keeps the parties focused on the bottom line.‘ 'Andrew is so effective. He gets to core issues very quickly and is very proactive.' 'He is measured and empathetic while also being constructively engaging and challenging.'

Andrew was accredited by ADR Net in 1990 and by CEDR in 1993. He has mediated in excess of 1200 cases. Whilst with Pinsent Masons he took on 60 cases per year. He is a former director of ADR Net Ltd; founder member of PIM (Senior Mediators), was Chairman of the Association of Midland Mediators for 12 years ending in 2012 and served on the CEDR training faculty from 1993 to 2005.

Andrew joined Pinsent & Co (now Pinsent Masons) in 1981 as a newly qualified solicitor at their Birmingham office and became a partner in 1986. Andrew initially had a fairly general practice incorporating property, construction and general commercial litigation before developing an interest in professional indemnity insurance. He took over management of the Insurance Litigation Group at his firm in 1995 continuing through to 2003 when he moved to an in-house role being responsible for dealing with claims and complaints and handling all professional indemnity insurance matters. Andrew retired from Pinsent Masons in April 2016.

Professional Memberships

· Co-founder of the Lamport Hall Group

· Former director of ADR Net Ltd

· Former member of the training faculty of CEDR (10 years)

· Former Chairman of the Association of Midland Mediators for 12 years ending in 2012

· Former member of the Board of the Civil Mediation Council

· Former director of Solicitors Indemnity Mutual Insurance Association Limited (SIMIA)

· Fellow of the CMC

Industry Sector Expertise

A brief overview of areas of practice:

Banking / Finance

Commercial contracts

Commercial fraud / Fraud

Company shareholders

Competition

Construction and engineering

Defamation

Employment

Franchise

Group actions

Insolvency

I.T.

Insurance / reinsurance

Intellectual Property

International

Local and national government

Medical negligence / Personal injury

Oil and gas

Partnerships

Pensions

Probate / Trusts / Estates

Professional negligence

Property

Regulatory

Sport

Transport / logistics