Bill Marsh

Practice Areas

Twice ranked by WWL as Mediator of the Year (2019 and 2014), Bill Marsh is one of Europe’s leading commercial mediators. Practising full-time for 30 years, he has mediated in almost every area of law and business, including significant experience in investor/state mediation. He mediates in the UK and internationally and has worked with parties from over 50 countries.

Operating both in the UK and internationally, his mediation practice has included disputes and parties from numerous countries including UK, Ireland, India, Cayman Islands, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Ghana, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and South Africa. Parties have included individuals, private companies and firms, public companies, public bodies/authorities, and national governments. His mediations cover a broad cross-section of commercial disputes, and range from relatively modest to multi-billion pound in value.

He is consistently ranked in the top tier of mediators in all the independent legal directories. He is described in legal directories as “one of the greats”; “right at the top of his game”; “a perfect example of how a talented mediator can overcome apparently insuperable obstacles”; “right at the top of the tree”; and “a sensational mediator” who “gets very high-profile work and is extremely experienced and capable". He is also praised for his “absolute commitment” and “commercial flair”, and is deemed an “excellent shuttle diplomat”, with quoted sources adding that he is “extremely patient and hardworking, but pushes both sides’ positions very hard”.

Bill has also served as adviser on conflict and mediation to many governments (the UK, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia) and international bodies (the EU, the IFC/World Bank and the UN); and to the Archbishop of Canterbury. His mediation experience includes religious, political and ethnic conflicts, as well as major environmental conflicts. In 2016, he was awarded the Archbishop’s inaugural award for outstanding service to reconciliation. He has also represented the UK in UN sessions.

He is a distinguished fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, on leading mediator panels in countries such as Russia, Singapore, US, Switzerland, India and China, and former executive director of CEDR.

Before becoming a mediator, Bill practised as a solicitor in the UK and Paris, handling international and domestic corporate and commercial matters (acquisitions and disposals, flotations, partnerships, commercial agreements, joint ventures, agency and distribution arrangements, insolvency, etc.).

Career

Before becoming a mediator, Bill practised as a solicitor in the UK and Paris, handling international and domestic corporate and commercial matters (acquisitions and disposals, flotations, partnerships, commercial agreements, joint ventures, agency

and distribution arrangements, insolvency, etc.).

He was for 11 years (until February 2002) Executive Director of CEDR. He has also worked with some of the major ADR organisations in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Netherlands, France, Austria, Russia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Canada.

He is the founder and director of Conflict Management International, a leading private consulting firm advising governments and businesses on the effective handling and resolution of conflicts and disputes.

Professional Memberships

· PIM Senior Mediator

· Panel Mediator for Singapore International Mediation Centre

· CEDR Solve mediator

· Mediator for CMAP (Centre de Mediation et d'Arbitrage de Paris), and speaks French

· ICC Mediator and Member of ICC’s ADR Commission

· Court of Appeal Panel Mediator

· International Panel Mediator CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution

· International Mediation Institute Certified Mediator

· Member of IMI’s Independent Standards Commission

· Law Society

· Advisory Board Member, UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict Issues

· Adjunct Professor, Hong Kong Shue Yan University

- Distinguished Fellow of International Academy of Mediators

· Fellow of the CMC

Publications

Training/talks/books/articles

Talks and Training Bill has given include:

As a leading mediation trainer, Bill has trained literally thousands of lawyers, judges, business people and other professionals as mediators and in the skills of using mediation effectively for their own disputes. He has trained throughout Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, US, Africa, and Asia. He also conducts extensive training in-house for law firms, insurance companies and others.

Books/articles:

He co-authored ‘The ADR Practice Guide – Commercial Dispute Resolution’ (Butterworths, 1995 and 2000)

Contributed two chapters to ‘Mediators on Mediation’ (Sweet & Maxwell, 2005)

Numerous articles, and lectures widely on the subject around the world.

Awards

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