Jane Gunn
Jane Gunn, FCIArb, FRSA, FPSA, CEDR accredited,
CMC registered and IMI Certified International Mediator
Overview
Listed as a Global Leader in Who’s Who Mediation and featured in Legal 500 Hall of Fame for 2022, Jane Gunn is a former city solicitor, now a full-time mediator with over 25 years’ experience of mediating commercial cases. She has mediated hundreds of disputes and is frequently chosen for her extensive mediation experience as well as her ability to handle complex and emotive cases,
Jane was accredited as a commercial mediator in 1996 (CEDR). She is a Mediator Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a CMC registered mediator and an IMI (The International Mediation Institute) Certified International Mediator. She is the immediate Past President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Mediation Experience
Jane has mediated a wide variety of disputes including:
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Commercial Disputes
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Business and Partnership
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Professional Negligence
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Boardroom Disputes
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Joint Ventures
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Family Business and Trusts
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Employment and Workplace
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Medical Negligence
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Personal Injury
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Property and Construction
Case Notes
Jane is frequently called upon to mediate complex cases due to her calm demeanour and approach. Some recent examples include:
1. Shareholder Dispute
Dispute between Founder/CEO and Shareholders regarding leave of absence and change of role and responsibility at a time of financial instability.
2. Dissolution of Partnership
Working with entrepreneurial business partners to separate their business and financial interests with “ease and grace” to enable them to move forward
3. Workplace and Disability Discrimination
Workplace conflict between line manager and employee regarding adjustment to working conditions in the light of a newly diagnosed disability.
4. Personal Injury
Mediation of personal injury case arising from a road traffic accident and leading to disability. Complex issues arising due to pre-existing disability and allegation of fundamental dishonesty.
5. Sexual Discrimination
Mediation of dispute relating to allegation of discrimination of female employee over male employee in application for partnership and equal pay.
6. Merger and Acquisition
Mediation arising from conflict between 2 senior executives and including team members in an organisation that was recently the subject of a take over that impacted on culture and governance processes.
7. Conflict Coaching
Ongoing conflict coaching following a successful mediation between 2 senior executives.
8. Boardroom Dispute
Mediation arising from a boardroom and shareholder dispute with allegations relating to unauthorised pay increases and holiday allocation and numerous other issues.
9. Partnership Dispute
Mediation arising from a partnership dispute where the business is to be dissolved and each partner work independently in the future with each starting new businesses.
10. Team Mediation
Mediation and conflict coaching with a team involving allegations of bullying and discrimination.
11. Sexual Abuse
Mediation relating to allegations of historic sexual abuse having lifelong impact.
Speaking Engagements
As President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and as a Speaker and Trainer, Jane has spoken at the following mediation related events in 2022
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CIArb International Women’s Day March 2022
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CIArb Brazil Branch meeting April 2022
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CIArb Qatar and UAE April 2022
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CIArb Webinar June 2022
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Association of Northern Mediators Summer School June 2022
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ICCA Edinburgh September 2022
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CIArb Mediation Symposium Keynote Address October 2022
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CIArb Kenya Inaugural Mediation Conference November 2022
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CIArb International Congress November 2022
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Barefoot Mediation Course – corporate training x 3
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The Magic of Conflict – corporate training x 3
For 5 years Jane was Lead Faculty (together with David Richbell) of the CIArb 5-day Mediator Training Programme and continues to deliver Advanced Mediator Training modules. She is a regular speaker at mediation conferences and events and has presented at the CIArb Symposium on a number of occasions.
Jane has been invited to speak at the United Nations, the White House, the European Commission and the International Energy Agency and has fulfilled a number of other international speaking engagements. She has also addressed the U.S. Department of Commerce and Federal Trade Commission on the role of Alternative Dispute Resolution in the border-less on-line market place.
Publications
Jane has 2 published books and is in the process of writing a third on the mediation process
How to Beat Bedlam in the Boardroom and Boredom in the Bedroom
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beat-Bedlam-Boardroom-Boredom-Bedroom/dp/1906316473
As Google’s Senior Litigation Counsel, Dr Harjiner S Obhi, has said:
“Jane Gunn has written an eye-opening, enlightening and empowering book for busy professionals. Act on her advice and it may improve your life forever.”
The Authority Guide to Conflict Resolution
She is also a regular contributor to business and legal magazines and journals and a radio and podcast guest.
Testimonials
We have worked with Jane to resolve conflicts that looked to most stakeholders and observers as irreconcilable. What amazes me is the calm and composed way she deals with conflict. Intractable positions and refusal to engage are business as usual for her. Jane is an incredibly safe pair of hands who will always deliver the results.
Simon Coops, Managing Director, Acuity Coaching Ltd.
A safe pair of hands and firm in her approach, Jane gets to the heart of a dispute. From that position she is adept at promoting solutions to and resolution of issues that may not be apparent at first. Easy to talk to and an excellent listener Jane’s is the first name that comes up in discussions about effective and sympathetic mediators. She is in the Premier League.
Anthony Abrahams, Former Director General, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Jane has helped with a number of very tricky situations where mediation was vital in order to avoid sustained conflict. Her advice and guidance was excellent and she delivered her support in a professional yet compassionate way that helped defuse tension in both sides. Without her help I am certain that the disputes could have easily escalated. With her mediation a solution was found each time that satisfied all parties and which ensured that the problems were resolved much more quickly than might have otherwise been possible.
Graham Jones, Chief Executive. Professional Speaking Association
I am a dispute settlement solicitor of 33 years call and a part time mediator for the last 15 years. For the last 10 years or so I have known Jane as a bright thought leader for mediation, an author on that subject and a leading mediator. She is an immensely likeable, independent and caring person. She is easy to work with and expresses herself very carefully. My clients really liked her. In 2015 she acted as mediator in a case of mine; she is a first rate mediator. Through reason and polite and firm challenges she creates a calm environment of goodwill with reason, a smile and good humour. It helps everyone reflect on positive outcomes.
Christopher Cox, Partner, Borne, Martell Coulston, Solicitors LLP
Mediation Style
Jane believes that mediation provides a unique opportunity for parties to step away from formal and adversarial modes of communication. Involving both lawyers and their clients in planning the mediation is of critical importance to her in creating the right environment to enable them to communicate and negotiate as effectively as possible.
She has been described as having the ability to communicate with individuals regardless of the scale and dynamics of the group and as having a very personal and professional manner. Clients have described her as having a ‘natural sensitivity and perception to the commercial and emotional needs of others’ and as being ‘very relaxed at handling and managing people. This makes it easy for her to overcome the barriers to communication at all levels and to facilitate problem-solving’.
Comments from other clients commend her as follows – ‘Her knowledge and understanding of individual styles is highly developed and adds greatly to her effectiveness’ and ‘ She shows patience and consideration whilst pulling few punches in sessions’.
Consultancy and Memberships
Jane is past Chair of the Board of Management of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and CIArb President for 2022. She is a past director and board member of the Civil Mediation Council of England and Wales (CMC). She is a fellow of the Professional Speaking Association of the UK and Ireland (PSA UKI). She is also a member of the Advisory Committee to QUADRA in Italy.
Author
Jane is also the author of 2 popular books on conflict management “How to Beat Bedlam in the Boardroom and Boredom in the Bedroom” and “The Authority Guide To Conflict Resolution”
Career Details
1983 – 1988 Solicitor with Taylor Garrett (now Taylor Wessing) central London
1988 – 1998 Raising children
Member of RSA Tomorrow’s Company Inquiry, conducting a major
review of the way in which British businesses operate and behave and
how this influences competitive position
1998 – 2000 Consultant to CEDR, London based Centre for Effective Dispute
Resolution Leading and promoting the Millennium Accord, an
international project designed to reduce the impact of millennium
problems and disputes for organisations
2004 – 2014 Partner MATA (Mediation and Training Alternatives) Providing
Mediation Training and Education internationally
1996 to date Independent Mediator, promoting the concept of Dispute
Resolution and Conflict Management through Mediation, Design and
Implementation of Conflict Management Systems and Trainin
May 2023