Bill Marsh

William (“Bill”) Marsh is one of the UK’s most experienced commercial mediators. Involved full-time in mediation since 1991, and independently rated by Chambers Directory as “…one of the greats…”, he has successfully mediated a wide cross-section of commercial disputes. International recognition has led Bill to being awarded Mediator of the Year in 2023, 2022 and 2019 by the international directory Who’s Who Legal. Operating both in the UK and internationally, his mediation practice has included disputes and parties from numerous countries including UK, Ireland, 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.

• Founder and Chairman of Inter-Governmental Mediation Forum for 20 Central and Eastern European Governments
• Has advised UK Government (HM Treasury, Department of Health, and other government departments) and numerous leading insurance companies, banks, trade associations and law firms, on their use of ADR
• Represented UK government at the United Nations (UNCITRAL) negotiations regarding the
  terms of an international model law of International Commercial Conciliation.
• Mediation Advisor to Government of Russia
• Mediation Advisor to Government of Slovakia
• Mediation Advisor to Government of Romania
• Mediation Advisor to Government of Bulgaria
• Mediation Adviser to Government of Turkey
• Advised the Financial Services Authority on, and designed and implemented, the FSA’s new mediation scheme for enforcement cases (the first use of mediation by a UK regulator)
• One of the first mediators in the NHS pilot clinical mediation scheme
• Mediator under court-annexed schemes for Commercial Court, Court of Appeal and
  Central London County Court
• Mediated internationally at request of Archbishop of Canterbury
• In 2016 awarded The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation by the Archbishop of Canterbury for services to reconciliation.

Bill “combines an assured reading of the law with robustness and commercial flair”. He is “tenacious and willing to challenge the parties without being seen to chase a settlement”. He has a “fluid style and an ability to really bring people together”.

Bill is consistently ranked amongst the UK’s top mediators in the independently-researched Legal 500 and Chambers Directory.

Legal 500 2024

Bill Marsh has the ‘ability to engage with difficult personalities and maintain a pragmatic and holistic approach‘. A full-time mediator since 1991, Marsh’s busy mediation practice covers a broad range of commercial disputes, including commercial contracts, product liability, insurance, professional negligence, and shareholder issues. His experience further extends to sports, medical negligence, pensions, IT and shipping-related mediations. Marsh also maintains a robust international practice that incorporates parties from over 30 countries, including India, France, Canada, US, Switzerland and Spain; and he is founding director of consulting firm Conflict Management International, through which he has worked with over twenty governments on dispute resolution issues.

Chambers & Partners 2024

Bill Marsh excels at mediating high-value and international commercial disputes across a broad range of industries. “He’s one of the best-known mediators around. He has a good client manner and is excellent with lay clients.” “Bill is really impressive. He’s very realistic in terms of setting expectations. He has a good manner and tests boundaries without being confrontational.” “He is very connected to the mediation. He appreciates the tension and takes the time to understand frustration and what the clients are trying to achieve. He goes above and beyond and invests a lot of time in reading the material.“

Who’s Who Legal: Mediation

International recognition has led Bill to being awarded Mediator of the Year in 2023, 2022 and 2019 by the international directory Who’s Who Legal.

Who’s Who Legal: Mediation

Top of the list of the ten most highly regarded individuals in the World in the 2014 edition of this International Directory, having been listed in the World’s top ten for the previous two years and listed at number two in 2015. In 2016 has been selected from all the mediation practitioners in this directory to feature within the list of the top five mediators in England. Bill has been listed in this directory since the first edition in 2011. Bill is a “go-to – his calibre and quality are simply fantastic”. Respondents “highly recommend his style and approach” and exalt his “very successful” mediation practice. He is a “sensational mediator according to respondents. He “gets very high-profile work and is extremely experienced and capable”. Bill has “a great reputation” among sources who note he is “simply one of the finest and always a pleasure to engage with.” Respondents “highly recommend his style and approach” and exalt his “very successful” mediation practice. He is the WWL Mediator of the Year for 2019. He also features on the list of Global Elite Thought Leaders in mediation.

Who’s Who Legal: Global Elite Thought Leaders – Mediation 2023

Bill features on the list of only a select few from around the World. Who’s Who Legal explain this new feature as ‘bringing together for the first time the insight, expertise and wisdom of some of the world’s foremost practitioners. They report that these practitioners obtained ‘the highest number of nominations from peers, corporate counsel and other market sources in their most recent research cycle.’ “Bill is highly skilled at seeing the real issues and guiding the parties to view things from many different perspectives.” “He brings calmness and clarity to the discussion.” “He is excellent for international disputes.” “Bill is one of the greats.”

“[Our clients – a major corporation] were very impressed and believe me [they] are very hard to please! They commented on a number of occasions just how good they thought you were”
Solicitor, multi-million pound international defence contract dispute

“Your tenacity was much appreciated and was a major contributor to us resolving the matter”
(Solicitor, shareholders action)

“I am in no doubt that your input, ideas and energy helped to keep the parties talking throughout a difficult and challenging day (and evening, and night!). We will certainly look for an opportunity to work with you again as a mediator” (Solicitor, world-wide trademark infringement dispute)

“[Our client] is very pleased to have settled the claim and most impressed with your help in achieving that”
(Solicitor, professional negligence/banking claim)

“I do not believe that the settlement would have been achieved without your skilful, persistent and patient intervention” (Solicitor, 6 party pensions dispute)

“Thank you for all your efforts in bringing this matter to a satisfactory conclusion from both sides point of view. It was something of an unusual case which, without your skill and judgment, had the potential to go horribly wrong…my clients have specifically asked me to thank you” (Solicitor, international banking claim)

“I left [the mediation] admiring both your skill and fortitude” (Counsel, Share option dispute)

“Thank you for your skilful handling of the mediation and for your success in guiding the parties to an entente cordiale” (Paris-based lawyer, international multi-million pound IT dispute)

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.

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.