Jane Player

Jane focuses on general corporate and contractual claims, fraud and project disputes to include pharma, energy, technology, IP claims and media disputes. Jane has particular experience of international dispute resolution and has a leading reputation for managing cross cultural aspects of joint venture and international shareholder disputes.

Jane is recommended for mediations where there are strong personalities within the parties’ groups and where there may be some cynicism towards the potential for dispute resolution through mediation. She has an engaging style and is often praised for her proactive approach.

As a full time mediator Jane actively promotes mediation and is regularly asked to speak on the subject in a number of jurisdictions. This includes promoting “in life” mediation (and she has been appointed as an “in life” mediator), which is a new trend in English dispute resolution. The use of mediation techniques earlier in the business relationship, using mediators working with parties to help them maintain their commitment to the venture as opposed to focusing on rights and obligations once things go wrong, has proved very successful. This approach supports businesses in their desire to form long term strategic relationships.

(Quotations from clients )

• “Jane clearly believes in the process and instilled in us confidence that if we approached it in the right way we would reach a settlement – and we did.”
• “Jane really wants the parties to settle if at all possible. Her tenacity and willingness to stick with us proved the reason why we settled in the end. There is no end to her energy levels.”
• “Approachable, can do, calm, personable, patient and thoughtful.”
• “Many mediators understand the legal issues but Jane combines this with the emotional intelligence that can be the difference between a wasted day and a successful outcome.”
• “Jane’s proactivity and people skills were key in enabling the parties to reach agreement.”
• “Strikes a good balance between empathy with the client and the harsh reality of litigation.”
• “Obviously a very good lawyer, excellent interpersonal skills, a really warm and likeable person – a great asset to the mediation community.”
• “We were very impressed by Jane. She is very personable and conciliatory. She is a good listener.”
• “I was very impressed by Jane. She had a very quick grasp of all the key legal issues and was very familiar with all of the points so as to ensure that all parties could make as good a use of the time available as possible.”
• “Her ability to identify common ground and to debate and challenge ideas was excellent and she was key in achieving the settlement.”
• “Jane shows an extraordinary ability to identify commonality of issues and puts a very positive slant on issues where parties appear miles apart. She remains encouraging and non-judgmental yet directional. My experience of using Jane has been incredibly positive.”

Jane is listed in the current editions of The Legal 500, Chambers & Partners and Who’s Who Legal: Mediation. The current editions of the directories state:

Legal 500 2024

A mediator since 2001, Jane’s ‘manner is perfect for making parties see the sense in settling a case. She is not overbearing, but she does emphasise the real issues inherent in the parties’ respective cases’.  Appointed directly by corporations and in-house counsel, as well by law firms, Player’s practice covers general corporate and contractual claims, fraud and project-related disputes, as well as Pharma, energy, technology, IP, and media-related claims. With notable experience in international dispute resolution, Player is also widely respected for her management of the cross-cultural aspects of joint venture and international shareholder conflicts. [Tier 1]

Chambers & Partners 2024

Jane Player mediates on a range of commercial and contractual disputes, with experience in IT, intellectual property and media-related cases. She mediates disputes that are both domestic and international in scope. “Jane is gentle but steely. She’s able to demonstrate empathy and understanding while at the same time being able to speak frankly and increase pressure on parties to achieve compromise when it’s needed. All round she’s highly personable and professional, managing to achieve excellent results.” “Jane is incredibly impressive. She’s thorough, clear and plays a significant role in the success of a mediation.” “She’s really good. She’s very organised, commercial and has really good authority. The parties really take on board what she says.”

Who’s Who Legal: Mediation 2023

Listed as one of the world’s top mediators in this international directory Jane Player ‘ranks prominently and “brings to the table years of experience in dispute resolution” on top of a highly diligent disposition. “She is clearly very experienced in commercial disputes.” “I highly recommend Jane.” “She is cool under pressure and very well prepared.” “She has an excellent reputation in the market.”

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

Jane features on the list of only a select few from around the World. Who’s Who Legal explain this 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.’

A brief overview of feedback received

“Jane just wasn’t prepared to let my client give up. She could see they wanted to settle and she worked with us to find a compromise that worked.”

“She was able to retain the confidence of the client in the mediation process in extremely difficult circumstances.”

”Extremely professional in using her mediation skills. Jane really understood where my client was coming from and what he needed to settle.”

 ”Despite being a lawyer, Jane was good at steering clear of the law and ensuring that the clients’ commercial interests were best served on the day.”

”The most recent mediation was a traumatic experience for the clients. It was on the rocks for a good while. That we steered through to calmer waters was in large part due to Jane’s perseverance, wisdom and good humour.”

”I had all but given mediation up as a pointless step and additional cost in hotly contested commercial disputes until I used Jane. Jane has such enthusiasm for the process spurred on by an impressive 100% success rate at settlement that she keeps the parties negotiating when others might give up and go home. This is what sets her apart. She doesn’t give in.”

”Good on coming up with ideas, discussing tactics and quick to pick up on reality testing, questioning etc.”

”Determined to explore every possible option rather than giving up.”

”Highly constructive and added greatly to the process.”

”Good rapport with the principals.”

”She was excellent. She worked hard with us and built rapport well with our client. I would be happy to use her again in the future.”

”Jane had a very thorough approach to the mediation.”

”We were very pleased with Jane and will be happy to work with her again.”

”She did a good job in helping the parties see where they could settle.”

”Her manner and style was also good – calm and understanding of the clients’ concerns but firm and in control at all times. My clients were also impressed.”

”Jane is not afraid to get stuck in and work with the parties towards a settlement.”

”Jane’s manner helped us persuade well-meaning but ill-advised defendants that a mediated resolution was a good result for them.”

”Jane mixes a tenacious and involved style with a warm personality that brings all the parties together. She is excellent at rapport building.”

Jane joined King & Spalding in April 2012 where she was a partner in their London Disputes Group until 31 March 2017. Prior to that Jane was the co-head of the International Dispute Resolution Group at Bird & Bird which she joined in 2002. Before that, Jane spent 10 years with DLA Piper as head of their London Disputes team and seven years with Turner Kenneth Brown having qualified as a solicitor in 1987.

Jane was accredited by CEDR in 2001 but has been mediating as counsel since 1992. Jane was privy to some of the first mediations in the UK having started her career at Turner Kenneth Brown. From 2001 Jane combined her busy mediation career whilst maintaining her demanding legal practices in International law firms. Jane became a full time mediator on 1 April 2017.

Jane undertook the International Advanced Mediation course with MATA (Mediation and Training Alternatives) in 2007 and again in 2016 and participated in an ICC cross cultural mediation course in 2009. She was a member of the MATA and CEDR faculty for training mediators for many years. Additionally, Jane was appointed as a Distinguished Fellow to the International Academy of Mediators in March 2016, is a member of the Follet Group, a group of top female mediators, is on the IMI Users Counsel and was a past co-chair of the IBA Mediation section. Jane is currently co- chair of two of the seven working groups of the IMI/CCA/Strauss Institute of Dispute Resolution International Task force. Jane ensures she stays up to date with the latest mediation techniques and methodologies and is actively engaged within the mediation community.

An overview of talks/books/articles:

• 2019-2021. Member of an International IMI/CCA/Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution California Mixed Mode taskforce. Co-chair of working groups 1 and 6. Summary of findings for each group to be published in the New York State Bar Association Dispute Resolution Lawyer Journal Spring 2021 Vol14 No.1. Topics deal with “ Building Dispute Resolution processes into agreements to Minimise and Manage potential conflict during the Commercial Relationship lifecycle” (WKGP 1) and “The Impact of Enforcement on Dispute Resolution Methodology” (WKGP 6)
• Jan 2021: “Compromise is not a dirty word.” LinkedIn
• Aug 2020: “Robots replacing Mediators – is this the future?” LinkedIn
• 24 Jun 2020: SAGE conference conflict resolution and mediation
• May 2020: “Lockdown and its consequences requires issues to be mediated sooner.” LinkedIn
• Spring 2020: GC Magazine. Mediate – don’t litigate.
• Nov 2018: Chapter contribution to publication on International IP Mediation, Kluwer Int’l
• 2017: Contribution to the Special Issue on Mediation in Corporate Disputes, European Company Law (edited by Kluwer)
• July 2016: Lawyer Monthly article – “The shifts in the international mediation landscape, the complexities of mediating daily, and what the best way to bring two parties together is”
• November 2015: Co-chaired the 6th ICC International Mediation Conference in Paris –“Mediating for a Better Business Outcome”; “New Trends in Business Mediation”
• October 2014: IBA Conference, Tokyo – “Mediation as an alternative method to resolve intellectual property disputes”
• October 2014: ICC Conference for in-house counsel – “Use of Mediation”
• May 2014: Intellectual Property Mediation Conference, Alicante, Spain, – “IP mediation techniques for breaking stalemate”
• 2014: Co-wrote chapter for latest Mediation Handbook entitled “Mediation in Energy Disputes” by David Richbell
• November 2013: ICC & IBA Mediation Conference, Dubai, UAE – “How one best starts a mediation –on its own or in conjunction with proceedings”
• Oct 2013: IQPC Corporate Counsel Exchange, Netherlands – “Dispute Wise Management”
• September 2013: International Academy of Mediators Conference, Paris, France – “What drives and hampers mediation in Europe?”
• August 2013: WIPO article – “Vive la resolution! – attitudes on technology mediation” published in Intellectual Property magazine
• April 2013: IQPC Corporate Counsel Exchange, London – “Mediation.. Exploding the myth?”
• February 2013: ICC 4th International Mediation Conference, Paris, France – “Controlling the choice and involvement of outside counsel”
• October 2012: IBA Conference, Dublin – “Why not international mediation?”
• March 2011: Nani Palkhivala Arbitration Centre’s Annual Int’l Conference on Arbitration – “Improving the effectiveness of Arbitration in Infrastructure projects and joint ventures”
• 2010: Co-wrote mediation chapter for “International Intellectual Property Arbitration” published by Wolters Kluwer
• October 2009: IBA Conference, Madrid – “Mediation Across the Sectors”
• 2008: PLC article “Resolving Deadlock through arbitration”