Practice areas · Dispute resolution
Mediation, negotiation, and litigation — led by a mediator accredited by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution in London.
Most disputes settle. The question is how much time, money, and goodwill is consumed before they do. Litigation is sometimes necessary and occasionally unavoidable, but it is slow, public, and expensive, and it tends to destroy the commercial or family relationship it was meant to vindicate.
Ms. Phillips is a Certified Mediator, trained and accredited by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) in London. That means the chambers can run a genuine settlement process, not merely threaten proceedings — and can tell you honestly which of the two your dispute actually needs.
A structured, without-prejudice process led by a CEDR-accredited mediator, for commercial and family disputes alike.
Direct negotiation and settlement agreements drafted to be final and enforceable.
Contract, shareholder, partnership, and property disputes before the Barbados courts.
Advising and representing in arbitral proceedings, including under contractual arbitration clauses.
Resolving separation, children, and financial arrangements without contested proceedings.
Drafting the clause now that determines how a future dispute is handled — and where.
Mediation is private, comparatively quick, and puts the outcome in the parties’ hands rather than a judge’s. It permits solutions a court cannot order — an apology, a continued trading relationship, a payment structured over time — and because the parties agreed the outcome, they tend to comply with it.
It is not appropriate for everything. Where a point of law needs deciding, where urgent relief is required, or where one side will not engage in good faith, litigation is the right answer and we will say so.
Commercial parties sign contracts with a boilerplate dispute clause nobody reads, then discover years later that it commits them to a forum, a process, or a jurisdiction that suits the other side. A few minutes on that clause at signature is worth a great deal at breakdown.
Barbados