Alun Thomas is an employment lawyer who has worked in the field for over 30 years. In the last 10 years he has come to realise that mediation is very often a better route to resolving workplace and employment difficulties than following formal grievance or complaints processes. A partner at Anderson Strathern he leads their Employment and Pensions Unit, is a founder member of the Scottish Discrimination Law Association and in 2018 was elected as Chair of Scottish Mediation.
Linn has been a Trustee for nearly 4 years. She is one of the two Vice-Chairs, and chairs the SM’s http://www.scottishmediation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Linn-Phipps.jpgCommittee for Excellence in Mediation. Additionally she chairs the SM’s WEIG – its Workplace and Employment Initiative Group, which is open to all SM Members, and volunteers with the Strathclyde Mediation Clinic. Originally trained as a mediator by CEDR, Linn practices as an independent coach and mediator, focused particularly on workplace conflict, and has a range of non-executive and advisory roles. Linn is a passionate advocate of how mediation approaches can enable better relationships, and help people to reach better outcomes and lead happier lives.
Scott is a mediator and partner with McArthur Stanton, Solicitors and one of our two Vice-Chairs. He is the founder of Mediation In Your Pocket, a convener of CALM Scotland, member of the Accredited Mediator Panel for the Law Society of Scotland, and for Scottish Mediation is Chair of its Peer Mediation Working Group. He created and manages a number of mediation and legal websites, actively promotes mediation on social media, and is a published author in the field. With Ewan Malcolm he has developed a training course on How To Mediate Online, and is pressing for an increase in access to training for child-inclusive mediation in separation. He is happy to work with all like-minded individuals, organisations, state bodies and the government in re-imagining from the ground up our approach to conflict engagement in Scotland.
Hilary has been given the title MBE for services to the Justice system in Scotland and to the community in Dundee. She is the Regional In-Court Adviser for the Tayside courts funded by the Scottish Legal Aid Board. Her role is to manage and develop the In-Court Project and is responsible for the management of a team and running a programme for volunteer law students along with providing Advice & Assistance for unrepresented parties and negotiating on their behalf. Hilary was instrumental in initiating and developing a dispute resolution scheme within the project.
Prior to her current role, Hilary, who is a management fellow, has worked in a variety of roles in senior management and in development. As well as having a sound management background, she also offers knowledge of the judicial systems. After having trained as a mediator she keeps her skills up to date by volunteering for the Edinburgh sheriff court Mediation service.
On the board since 2015, Hilary brings to the board an unusual mix of both management and development experience, combined with a working knowledge of dispute resolution within the court system.
Fiona is a Partner in Gillespie Macandrew’s Dispute Resolution team. She covers a broad range of civil litigation but has particular expertise in employment and property disputes. Fiona is a strong proponent of alternative dispute resolution methods including specifically mediation. She has been co-chair of the Young Mediators’ Group since November 2013 and regularly delivers CPD on ADR and mediation in her firm. Fiona joined the SM Board in December 2017.
I am a passionate believer in the power of mediation as a tool to build relationships and transform conflict. I feel that in our society mediation is currently underused and misunderstood and see the role of SM of promoting both the potential of mediation to civic leadership in Scotland and of good practice amongst those practicing mediation as really important.
I am a qualified mediator and have been very privileged to work with Mediation Northern Ireland and later with the Centre for Good Relations in promoting and developing civic mediation in England and see that there is strong potential for civic mediation to be further expanded not just in Scotland, but more widely. The current political context, the increase in migration and the impact of terrorist attacks across the globe is impacting on Scotland and the more skilled our society are in managing and building good relationships the better.
Amanda specialises in equality and inclusion and holds a law masters degree (LLM) in UK and EU employment and equality legislation and works as an independent equality and inclusion consultant, with a diverse profile of clients from the public and private sector. She trained as a mediator in 2008, with a focus mediation in employment. Having founded a community engagement social enterprise, 360 Engagment, she is particularly interested in community empowerment and capacity building, and promoting mediation skills and practice as an effective way of resolving conflict, which can drain resources and energy from community projects.
Amanda is a former trustee of Disability Sports Yorkshire, a charity which champions and enables inclusive sport and the participation of disabled people in public life. Her key focus as a trustee will be to promote mediation in the community, voluntary and business sectors, as well as raising the profile of accessibility and inclusion.
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Rosanne is Head of Practice for Family Mediation at Relationships Scotland, having worked for the organisation since 2003. She oversees the training, professional development and practice of the 80+ family mediators on the Relationships Scotland Register and working in the 13 Member Services in the network that offer family mediation. Rosanne leads on initiatives to bring about an increase in the uptake of family mediation in Scotland. She is also the National Development Manager for Parenting Apart, information sessions for separating and divorcing parents to find out how best to help their children through the process of splitting up.
Rosanne is keen to encourage mediation and mediating ways to become embedded across all sectors of society in Scotland.
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Alastair Fraser has spent over 30 years as a management coach, consultant, and author, in that time, he has helped more than 250 organisations and over 4000 individuals across many sectors including: – retail, manufacturing, charity, finance, automotive, service, utilities, education, and brewing.
He is delighted to become a Board member for Scottish Mediation.
Alastair is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, a Graduate of the Open University and an Approved Mentor for CMI.
He has written the best-selling “Can I Help you?” a practical guide to working with ‘experts’ and is co-author of “A Practical Guide to Teambuilding”.
