Jonathan is a Barrister, Mediator, Arbitrator and Accredited Mediator.

He is joint Head of Chambers at Normanton Chambers, prior to which he founded 218 Strand Chambers, Clerksroom and the London School of Mediation. Jonathan is widely described as being 'instrumental' in the development of mediation both in the UK and Worldwide and has remained involved in the profession since 1996.

Working globally to develop mediation as a leading alternative to conflict and litigation, Jonathan is regularly consulted by governments and judiciary around the world regarding the introduction and development of mediation in those jurisdictions.

He has completed over 1000 mediations and has acted as counsel on many more. Jonathan enjoys enviable feedback including the award of Mediation Achiever of the Year in 2009 and 2016. He has also co-authored three editions of the Mediation Handbook.

His passion for teaching has gained him a deserved reputation for inspiring and motivating students of the profession in many countries, regardless of their backgrounds.

Eleanor trained with the Society of Mediators in 2018 and has since become a Trustee of the Society, assisting the faculty with our training courses.

Eleanor's background is in immigration, having spent over three years working closely with migrants across the UK, France and South Africa. Eleanor builds on experience working with clients from across the world, focusing on the human side of disputes and taking much of her inspiration from Marshal Rosenberg's theory of Non-Violent Communication.

Her professional experience is largely academic, working as a research assistant at the International Centre for The Study of Radicalisation and the Urban Violence Research Network. The latter involved exploring the role of mediation as a means to address gang violence, with a particular focus on Freetown, Sierra Leone and Cape Town, South Africa.

Eleanor has also spent time representing Xhosa communities on the Wild Coast during mediations with local authorities whilst working with Attorneys in Johannesburg. 

Eleanor has a keen interest in reframing imposter syndrome, failure and workplace identity. She sits on the Executive Committee of Bridging the Bar, a charity which seeks to diversify the legal profession and has been collaborating with the Bar Council, Bar Standards Board and UK Supreme Court on developing training and reverse mentoring schemes to address these psychological barriers.

Eleanor holds a first class bachelor of arts in International Relations from King's College London and is obtaining the Post-Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP.

Eleanor is open to instructions in relation to any type of dispute, but is particularly keen to assist individuals who cannot afford to enter the Court process and for whom mediation is the last resort.

If you would like to instruct Eleanor, then please contact our team on info@societyofmediators.com

Claire is a fully accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator, a Trustee of the Society of Mediators and Founder and CEO of United Mediation. 

Her history of working both in the Television and Sports Sector, and Construction and Property Industry, allow her to specialise in these areas. However, her previous experience in family mediation has given her many years of experience in the field. She also has a special interest in medical negligence and wills and probate.  

She is currently proud to be working for The British Red Cross as one of their in house mediators and is also in the process of training to become a Magistrate. 

Away from work, her passion is sport. At the weekends you will find her playing regional netball! She’s a qualified umpire and coach and is chair of the Middlesex County Netball League where she is also the Disciplinary Secretary dealing with all disputes and disciplinary matters that may arise. 

Alex is a barrister, mediator and non-practising solicitor and a founder member of Normanton Chambers. Before practising law, Alex was a Company Director in several small enterprises in Hampshire and Devon. He has a wide and varied employment history ranging from baking to training to be a Nurse for 3 years at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth. His career in nursing paid for his legal studies and this, together with his past eclectic employment (prior to finding life at the Bar) enables him to bring an unusually broad range of experience to the benefit of his clients as a barrister and as a mediator. Alex has been involved in mediation for many years and actively promoted it as a solicitor. He is a member of the Devon Mediation Service which provides free mediation for community disputes and has been a Trustee with the Society of Mediators since 2018. He mediates housing, contract, clinical negligence and commercial disputes. ​

Keith is a Hypnotherapist and Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator.

He began his working life as a design and development engineer working on military electronics projects before progressing into radio and TV broadcasting systems. Keith has worked around the world re-training personnel and transforming out-of-date analogue into new digital systems.

In 2001, after 25 years of running his freelance business, Keith decided to retrain and turn his interest in psychology into a career. He now helps people overcome fears and phobias at his practice based in Covent Garden.

Keith is passionate about getting people round the table to re-connect and therefore when he heard about mediation it felt like a natural fit. He qualified as a Civil & Commercial and Workplace Mediator in 2013 and became a trustee of SoM in 2017.

He is also a keen on a variety of outdoor sports including competitive target rifle and pistol shooting. He has gained coaching qualifications in this sport and enjoys moving experienced shooters onto peak performance as well as taking raw beginners through to competent and safe levels.

Ian Strathcarron is a publisher and author: he is Chairman of Unicorn Publishing Group and has written several biography, art and history books as well as novels and ’self-help’ books.

Unicorn specialise in the publishing books in the visual arts and cultural history sector and as an art book publisher Ian has extensive knowledge of the art and publishing worlds. He is an active member of the Professional Advisors to the International Art Market.

He was a founder and director of Art Resolve, a niche mediation service dealing with all aspect of conflict relating to the art world, publishing and copyright.

He is Vice-Chair and a Trustee of the Society of Mediators, as well as a panel member of NFS, a dedicated pro bono community mediation provider and has ten years experience of mediation.

David works as a business consultant, mentor and Expert Witness (Equestrian); is an Accredited Mediator and a Trustee of The Society of Mediators (Head of Membership). David has held many interim COO and CEO positions and more recently, as Interim COO at the BEF, he played a key part in installing a necessary governance model to secure the next quad of Olympic funding. Now working as, expert witness and mediator, David comes from a strong sporting background. A 35+ year involvement with the equestrian world David is a former Point-to-Point and Amateur Rider, Trainer. A breeder and producer of foals and yearlings for sales and pre-training. A long and successful relationship with the competition world, with the production of young animals became a particular skill. A Judge of some repute; on most Judging Panels in the UK; in demand to judge extensively both internationally and domestically. An increasing demand for seminar speaking and mentoring and developing a particular niche with challenging behaviours and the impacts of Social Media.

Currently the appointed Director of Showing at Hickstead, to include both the Al Shiraa Hickstead Derby Meeting and The Longines Royal International Horse Show. David still enjoys his equestrian life.

Jane is a Solicitor, Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator and the Treasurer of Gosport Borough Football Club.

She has 25 years experience in a variety of areas of law and  specialises in all aspects of family law, with particular expertise in high net worth divorce cases and cases involving business issues and immigration issues. 

Additionally, following her passion for sport and particularly football, she regularly advises on regulatory issues for sports clubs and associations and represents both players and clubs in disciplinary hearings.

Jane is a lifelong Pompey fan and regularly goes to matches around the UK, as well as those for Gosport Borough. Living within the South Downs national park, she loves the country life and spends her spare time walking, cycling, gardening, making cakes and cooking for friends and family.

Following gaining her accreditation as a mediator, Jane quickly began to use her skills with both her legal practice and in her role within football. She recently joined SoM as a trustee and is keen to assist with the Free Mediation Project in her area.

Ruby is a Solicitor, Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator , Charity Worker and Ethics Specialist.

Until Mid-2013 Ruby was a Partner at an International Law Firm specialising in International Law and Public Policy. She left to run her own consultancy advising on Business and Human Rights, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability Law.

Having undertaken training as a mediator she quickly saw the synergy between this form of ADR and her other areas of work. Ruby was involved in the Law Society research into Business Human Rights for the Legal Profession and initiated the Business Ethics Working Group in her role as Vice Chair of the Solicitor’s International Human Rights Group.

Ruby is an ethical vegan and spends much of her free time on charity work in Eritrea and on animal rights related issues. 

She is an integral part of the Free Mediation Project, a trustee of SoM and a director of RS Collaboration.

Zoey is a Pupil Barrister at Normanton Chambers and a Civil and Commercial Mediator.

Having originally trained as a mediator with Clerksroom in 2006, Zoey has over ten years experience of mediation and has trained mediators across the UK as well as South Africa, Spain and the Cayman Island for the past six years.

She was the First Honorary Secretary of the Society of Mediators and has played a key role in its charitable work and the development of the Free Mediation Project since its inception.

Outside of mediation, Zoey was called to the Bar in 2018 after well over a decade working with the Legal Expenses industry on all types of contentious work. Zoey specialises in Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence particularly those relating to children, non-recent abuse and the military. She also has a keen interest in Family and Children matters due to her judicial work in this area.

Zoey is a Barrister of the Middle Temple, a Family Justice, an Internationally Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator and a Graduate Member of the Institute of Legal Executives.

John is an experienced generalist leader with specialist skills in business coaching, behavioural change, achievement and conflict resolution.

He works with senior leaders and teams in organisations, as well as individuals and groups, in order to achieve clarity of purpose and / or resolve conflict in the often seemingly intractable challenges encountered in the workplace and elsewhere. Prior to this he was an officer in the Royal Navy for 27 years during which time he specialised in meteorology and oceanography before undertaking senior roles in HR.
In mediation he has a wealth of experience in providing opportunity, to enable participants to achieve outcomes in workplace disputes, as well as in civil and commercial claims. And his environmental knowledge is of increasing value in matters relating to the impact of our changing climate.

A long standing trustee of the Society of Mediators and a leading trainer within the faculty, John is the current president of the Society.

Dominic is Managing Director of Collis Mediation Ltd, a practicing civil and commercial mediator, training provider and consultant to a wide variety of businesses where he manages conflict, change, complex relationships and training.

Dominic has gained 25 years' experience in a commercial environment, the last 10 of which at the most senior level.

Dominic is the author of articles for national publications and is a trainer in Education Health and Care sectors. He is a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities consultant to local authorities and schools and has an enviable record in general mediation and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, carrying out over 800 mediations; making him one of the country's leading and most experienced mediators.

He works with leading commercial and local authority clients improving their overall dispute resolution structure, provision and approach.

Andi is a Barrister, Mediator and Joint Head of Chambers at Normanton Chambers.

Before coming to the Bar, Andi was in-house counsel in the personal injury department of a major London firm and also undertook a nine month secondment to Zurich Insurance PLC giving pre-litigation case management advice on personal injury and property claims.

As a mediator Andi has over 16 years experience and was one of the founder members of the Court Based mediation Scheme.

She mediated a full range of civil and commercial dispute through the National Mediator Database and predominately high value personal injury, clinical negligence and costs matters through Trust Mediation.

Andi has strong links with South Africa and has beed heavily involved in providing training to various organisations throughout the country.

She is a Barrister of Lincoln's Inn and an Internationally Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator.