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David Cornes is a full-time Commercial Mediator, listed in the Legal 500 and in Chambers Directory, who operates independently from law firms, barristers’ chambers, groups of mediators operating together and mediation service providers. David was first accredited as a commercial mediator in 1993 by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution. Up to the end of 2004, he was Senior Partner of Winward Fearon, Solicitors, (now Maxwell Winward LLP) with very extensive experience of negotiation and disputes, both domestic and international, in the High Court, and in arbitration.

 

Since 1 January 2005, he has been a full-time mediator. David is available for direct appointment as mediator in commercial disputes and deal mediation (assisted negotiation of contracts) both in the UK and overseas. His qualifications are BSc(Eng), Associate of King’s College, Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (both for Mediation and Arbitration). He is a non-practising Solicitor.

 

David is available for direct appointment as mediator (not  as a Solicitor) in commercial disputes and deal mediation both in the UK and overseas.

 

He is a member of PIM Senior Mediators and is on the Mediation Panel of the Court of Appeal in London, The Mediator Panel of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the CPR Global Panel (International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, New York).

 

The types of disputes that he has mediated include:

 

• Accidents (e.g. cranes, causing loss and personal injury)
• Boundary disputes (party walls)
• Business disputes (within partnerships and family controlled companies)
• Commercial contracts
• Construction (every type of dispute, including payment, valuation, termination, liquidated        damages, delay and defects in design and construction)
• Defamation
• Environmental
• EU competition/procurement
• Information technology (software and hardware)
• Insolvency
• Insurance (& reinsurance)
• Intellectual property
• Mechanical and electrical engineering
• Multi-party disputes (including a 7-party construction dispute in one day and a 500 party         dispute in an insolvency in two days)
• Nuisance (eg building damage)
• Oil and gas onshore & offshore (including construction, severe damage by explosion and         consequential losses)
• Partnership/LLP
• Petrochemical
• Power (electricity)
• Professional fee disputes
• Private Finance Initiative projects (several, all multi-party)
• Product liability
• Professional negligence (Architects, Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, M&E Engineers, Project Managers and others outside the construction field, including surveyor property        valuation claims)
• Property (real estate)
• Railway industry
• Shipping (wet & dry)
• Term maintenance contracts in various sectors (including IT, construction (both civil and        building), turbines, power distribution and offshore).

 

The value of these disputes has ranged up to $800 million. He has conducted very many hundreds of mediations.

 

A significant number of his mediations have involved parties and lawyers from outside the UK (including China, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Malta, The Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Russia, Slovakia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Venezuela and the USA). David  also mediates internationally.

 

DISTINCTIONS

 

Legal 500:

 

2012: An ‘excellent operator’ who can ‘charm even the hardest litigant into reaching a settlement’, David Cornes (Independent) enjoys a superb reputation, particularly for construction-related matters, where ‘as both an engineer and a lawyer he offers a rare insight into the matters he mediates’. Praised for his ‘quietly effective and efficient’ approach, he is ‘quickly able to create a rapport’ with clients, ‘and to gain their trust, all of this using a light touch and good humour’. Solicitors praise him as ‘excellent in terms of preparation work, general understanding and knowledge of the facts and figures, which, combined with his calm, friendly and forthright persuasive manner, very often results in amicable settlement’.

 

2011: “David Cornes (Independent) is a vastly experienced mediator of all kinds of disputes, with a first-class reputation for high-value and complex construction matters. Clients note his ‘easy manner’, and ability to ‘probe a client’s position while maintaining a good rapport’. Unafraid to address the legal merits where necessary, clients applaud the fact that he is not only ‘tough on weak arguments’ but also ‘willing to acknowledge strengths’.”

 

2010: “David Cornes is a figure of some stature in the mediation community. Clients credit him with a ‘relaxed but firm’ style and ‘an incisive approach’. While able to digest large volumes of technical details quickly, his ability to recognise strengths as well as weaknesses in parties’ cases is appreciated, as is ‘his blend of charm and honest analysis’. His style is ‘methodical, breeding reassurance and confidence’.”

 

Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession:  

 

2012: The "personable" Cornes "takes the heat out of acrimonious disputes with his calm and measured approach." He is a construction specialist and earns praise not only for his "good grasp of the technical issues" but also for his "excellent communication and administration prior to the mediation."

 

2011: “Cornes has a well-deserved reputation as one of the leading mediators in the UK, with a practice that focuses predominantly on construction and professional negligence disputes. He also handles more general commercial disputes. "He is a sensible, bright guy who knows when to use the material to challenge a position, keeps parties together and gets good results," say sources.

 

2010: “Construction and professional negligence are Cornes' areas of expertise. ”He is incredibly intellectual and has tremendous experience in the construction industry; he knows exactly how the boardroom works," clients say. Outside of this specialism, he has witnessed an array of commercial work including contractual, property, IP and multiparty disputes. "He is charming yet incisive, and that always commands respect." “

 

Who’sWhoLegal

 

2011:  “...has been noted for his “in-depth knowledge of the construction industry” ... the “excellent” David Cornes, who has “first-class technical knowledge.”

 

FEEDBACK

 

This includes: 

 

• “…a big Thank You for acting as such a Superlative Mediator.  I think you should be sent to Gaza and no doubt your charm and wisdom would solve those problems within 24 hours.  I hope that I may have the pleasure of working with you again in future.”

 

• "I would like to...express my appreciation...for the excellent way you handled the Mediation...Heaven forbid that we ever have another incident of this nature but if we do, we certainly know where to come to secure an excellent Mediator."

 

• “Thank you very much for handling the mediation yesterday so expertly and with such diplomacy. It is quite clear that but for your skill no agreement would have been concluded.”

 

• “He has a persuasive and gentle determination.”

 

• “David obviously ‘knew his stuff’ and was a good reality tester.”

 

• “David Cornes encouraged the parties with new ideas that they would not have come up with themselves.”

 

• “David was particularly good at group sessions and got to grips with the most important issues straight away.”

 

• “David Cornes was very good.  His style is one of firmness but fairness.”

 

• “Many thanks for your expert guidance yesterday which I'm sure was responsible for bringing this long running dispute to a sensible conclusion. I thought that you got the measure of the occasion just right. Hopefully, we shall meet again.”

 

• “Thank you again for your hard work ... Everyone was very impressed and I will certainly be recommending that you are nominated to resolve disputes of a similar nature in future.”

 

ADDITIONAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

 

Arbitrator:    He has acted as Arbitrator, both as sole arbitrator and on Tribunals in the UK and overseas. He has experience of the Rules of the ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

 

Conciliator:    He acts as Conciliator under the “Institution of Civil Engineers Conciliation Procedure” (akin to mediation, followed by a written recommendation if no settlement was reached by conciliation) and the similar Procedure published by the Institution of Engineers of Ireland.

 

Adjudicator:    He has been appointed as Adjudicator in disputes under the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act (but no longer takes such appointments).

 

Expert Determination:    He has acted as a neutral evaluator in expert determinations.

 

Dispute Review Boards:    He has been accredited by the Institution of Civil Engineers as a DRB member. He completed a five year term as Deputy Chairman of the DRB on a major UK Power Station project.

 

PERSONAL STYLE

 

Persuading the parties themselves to confront the real cost and risks of being in dispute and the issues that separate them and to understand for themselves the benefits of settlement. Challenging positional bargainers. Constantly searching for opportunities to promote settlement and trying to look ahead to what may happen next. David is persistent, energetic and patient; he does not give up when things look bleak. Good at cauterising emotional issues that might otherwise block settlement. He is soft on the people but hard on the issues. He believes strongly in keeping the parties’ lawyers closely involved in the process and not excluding them.

 

OTHER ACTIVITIES

 

David is a regular speaker at public and private seminars in the UK and overseas on the subject of mediation. For four years, he was a Member of the Board of Management of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators with the particular responsibility of representing the interests of mediators. He was also a member of the Mediation Sub-Committee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

 

He spoke on the subject of design liability at The Third International Off-shore Oil Contract Seminar in Norway. He was a Member of Institution of Civil Engineers Sub-committee (in 1992) to review the ICE arbitration system.  He was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers Arbitration Advisory Panel (1998–01). David was involved in the Mediation Strategy Group of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (2002 to 2004) looking at ways to introduce mediation registration and training to that body. He was the legal representative on the UK Standing Committee on Structural Safety, known as SCOSS, (2001-2004). He sat on the Board of Management of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators for a number of years until 2009.

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Publications include:  two books - "Design Liability in the Construction Industry", 4th Edition, 1994 and jointly with another author: "Collateral Warranties", Second Edition, 2002. Contributor to “Construction Contract Policy”. Articles for International Construction Law Review, Construction Law and many other publications. Regular writer on mediation principles and practise. See here >>

 

 

 

EXPERIENCE