Andrew Paton

Andrew was accredited by ADR Net in 1990 and by CEDR in 1993. He has mediated in excess of 1200 cases. This has included more recently many mediations conducted online. 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.

Listed in the top tiers of both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. Listed in the international directory, Who’s Who Legal: Mediation.

From initial appointment through to the final resolution (whether at or after the mediation itself) Andrew is “totally engaged” with the process. He brings with him conspicuous energy and enthusiasm and also has a sense of humour that, when appropriate, can be used to get past obstacles standing in the way of progress.

Andrew features in the top bands of both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. The current editions of the directories state:

Legal 500 2024

Andrew Paton is ‘particularly good at understanding the drivers and personal motivations, and targeting them to resolve the issue‘. A former partner at Pinsent Masons LLP, Paton has mediated approximately 1360 mediations to date; and during 2022 he handled over 65 cases, more than half of which concerned professional negligence claims against solicitors, barristers, accountants, architects, engineers, surveyors, financial advisors and insurance brokers. An accredited mediator since 1990 and former chairman of the Association of Midland Mediators, Paton is also highly active in relation to construction disputes, with the balance of his practice split between disputes over insurance, property, shareholders, torts, Trusts, and commercial issues.

Chambers & Partners 2024

Andrew Paton is “a very experienced and talented mediator and is very good at navigating the parties’ emotions. Andrew brings a certain gravitas and stature which ensures results. He’s not afraid to call it, enabling the parties to get to a point where they can achieve a result.” “He’s just so proactive in getting people to a point where they can agree. He very quickly gets to the main matters of the issues and has an incredible ability to get people to think about commercial realities rather than the stricter legal merits of the case. He’s very good at organising people and getting them to the place they want to be. He’s a successful mediator.” “Andrew is an excellent mediator. He’s calm, measured and personable – an excellent skill set for a mediator. His approach is subtle but engaging, helping to find outcomes to difficult cases.” “He is affable in a way that lay clients find reassuring, while still being extremely knowledgeable as to the law and not afraid to ask both sides to confront hard truths about the merits of their respective positions.”

Who’s Who Legal: Mediation 2022

Listed as one of the World’s top mediators in this International Directory. Andrew Paton is favoured for his personable and intelligent approach to professional indemnity and construction negligence disputes.

“I thought Andrew did a good job. He was sufficiently serious and focussed around the issues but did bring a well needed sense of humour to, what was essentially a mediation about rat poo. As a Brummie, I would certainly recommend Andrew to others in my firm. His involvement assisted the process..”

“Obviously a very experienced mediator, Andrew kept the process going and skilfully helped both parties move to a settlement they could live with.”

“Andrew is an excellent Mediator who has with me a 100% record. He is very fair.

“Andrew is highly regarded and his skills as a mediator are second to none. He kept the process moving and did so in a professional and friendly manner. His experience enabled him to keep the parties actively engaged in the mediation process throughout.”

“Proof of the pudding..Andrew gently achieved a (thus far) successful conclusion to a very hard long drawn out matter.”

“Andrew was adept at getting the parties to move towards settlement quickly. He cajoled where necessary and called parties on their cases/positions as necessary.”

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.

Talks and Training Andrew has given include:

Closely involved in training mediators and lawyers as a member of CEDR’s training faculty from 1993 to 2003. Andrew speaks regularly on mediation topics. He also provides training courses in preparation and presentation at mediations. He has trained lawyers, business people and other professionals in mediation skills and in the skills of using mediation effectively for their own disputes. He also conducts training in-house for law firms, insurance companies and others.

Books/articles:

Author of many articles on ADR and speaker at conferences including, most recently, The Solicitors’ Claims Conference at Clyde & Co.

In his spare time Andrew enjoys dinghy racing, cycling, walking and riding his motorbike.