Rachael Bicknell

Over the last 5 years Rachael has built a thriving mediation practice. She is ranked in Chambers and Partners (2025) as one of the top 50 commercial mediators in the UK, and the only mediator in Scotland, and as a Leading UK Mediator in Legal 500 (2025). She has mediated over 100 commercial and civil disputes across the UK ranging in value from tens of thousands to multimillion pound claims and with up to 6 separately represented parties and 40 participants.

Rachael consistently receives excellent client feedback and has been described as “hugely skilful”, “impressive”, “incredible”, “the best mediator I’ve come across in a long time” and “my first choice of mediator”. She is renowned for her calm, assured and personable manner, her thorough preparation, and her ability to grasp complex technical issues and to quickly understand multiple issues and competing interests. Rachael is also praised for her tenacity and resilience in helping the parties to come to a resolution, even when they remain some considerable distance apart.

Rachael is the founder of Squaring Circles, winner of a UK National Mediation Award in 2020. She brings to her mediation practice over 12 years’ experience as a solicitor at two of the UK’s most successful premium law firms, where she specialised in the resolution of commercial, professional negligence, insolvency, real estate, corporate and shareholder disputes.

Reflecting her former practice, Rachael is routinely appointed in a broad range of commercial and civil disputes. She has a strong reputation in commercial, professional negligence, construction, real estate, insolvency, company, business interruption, partnership, boardroom, family business related claims and inheritance and executry disputes. She is on the mediation panels for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Scottish Land Commission. She handles disputes involving corporates, insurers, private, public and third sector clients and has mediated disputes with parties from the UK, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the USA, Canada and Australia.

Rachael is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators (IAM), an invitation-only organisation of the world’s pre-eminent commercial mediators. She is also certified by the International Mediation Institute (IMI) and the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) and a registered civil and commercial mediator with the Civil Mediation Council (CMC) and Scottish Mediation. She trained in negotiation and mediation at Harvard Law School and the Strauss Institute at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law respectively. She is a Fellow of ADR ODR International and on the mediation panels for the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) in Seoul and the ADGM Arbitration Centre in Abu Dhabi.

Rachael is a member of the training faculty on the RICS Mediation Training Programme and until 2023 taught negotiation skills on the Online LLM in Dispute Resolution at the University of Aberdeen, a UK top-10 law school.

Mediation style and approach

Rachael mediates a broad range of disputes from those where the parties are commercially driven to those which have a strong emotional impact. She embraces the flexibility of mediation and adapts her style, and approach to process design, to the needs of the parties and the dispute. She is empathetic, engaging, inquisitive and tenacious without shying away from legal and commercial challenge when needed, nor compromising on the excellent rapport she builds with parties and legal counsel. She works hard to broker commercial settlements and to engage the parties in creative problem solving.

Rachael’s unique approach to mediation reflects her belief that it is a process rather than a one-day event. To demonstrate her commitment to the parties and the process she guarantees not to accept mediation appointments for different disputes on consecutive days. She is invested in the process from the outset. Once appointed she has a Teams meeting with the solicitors to discuss process design and logistics. She conducts a pre-mediation-day Teams call with each party, both clients and solicitors. She is always thoroughly prepared and takes a proactive approach to ensuring the parties are fully prepared for settlement, which contributes to the high settlement rates in the mediations she is appointed to. Herapproach offers the parties a positive and effective mediation experience and keeps them focussed on trying to achieve a resolution. Feedback from parties and solicitors always praises her approach.

Feedback from Legal Directories

Chambers & Partners, 2025

 Rachael was brilliant. She managed a very heated dispute with skill and precision. 

 Rachael is a real pleasure to deal with, providing commercial and effective mediation support. She empathises with clients and gets the balance right between challenging parties and remaining neutral.

She is a very passionate mediator who seeks to achieve an agreeable outcome for all involved. With her background in commercial litigation, she understands both the legal and business issues.

Legal 500, 2025

Rachael prepares assiduously and spares no effort in trying to secure an agreement and is able to keep parties on board, even when emotions are running high.

Chambers & Partners, 2024

“Extremely pragmatic, clever and open to adapting to situations.”

“Rachael has an understated style where she listens to what the parties want. She’s very adaptable in mediations and takes the time in advance to talk to the clients so when you start you’ve already covered some ground.”

“Sensible, calm and looks to get a great result.”

“Rachael is very pleasant to deal with and develops a good grasp of the issues without losing herself in the details.”

Legal 500, 2024

“Personable but direct. She is tenacious in ensuring that parties carefully consider and face up to the risks that they face in litigation and does not let them off the hook when it comes to answering difficult questions.”

Legal 500, 2023
“Rachael is well prepared, organised, conciliatory and has excellent communication skills – all traits of a very effective mediator.”

Client feedback

Partner, National law firm
“Rachael is a “go to” mediator. She’s meticulously well prepared and it shows. Her approach is one of the most productive I’ve encountered.”

Counsel, international law firm
“Rachael is a highly effective mediator with exemplary communication skills. The thorough preparation that she not only personally undertakes but also tasks to the parties, ensures the mediation day is efficient and effective. She is exceptionally smart and quickly grasps the key issues. She does not shy away from engaging in and testing parties’ views on the facts, the law and the risks they face in litigation.”

Senior lawyer, International law firm
“Rachael is a very skilful mediator. She has exceptional organisational skills, thoroughly prepares, and has a calm and personable demeanour. Her deft handling of the mediation, involving a mixture of private individuals, contractors and construction professionals, demonstrated her ability to quickly understand multiple issues and competing interests and mediate complex multiparty disputes.“

Partner, commercial law firm
“Rachael is the best mediator I’ve come across in a long time.”

Partner, Scottish law firm
“Rachael is an impressive mediator. She is excellent at establishing rapport and has considerable skill in getting the measure of all the personalities in play and steering the mediation to best effect.”

Partner, commercial law firm
“Rachael is impressive, and in difficult cases. She prepares extensively and works very hard to ensure all parties prepare for the mediation, which ultimately pays dividends on the mediation day. I would not hesitate to recommend her as a mediator.”

Partner, commercial law firm
“Rachael is well prepared, calm, assured and has a pleasant manner. She is resilient and doesn’t give up helping the parties to reach a deal even when they remain some considerable distance apart.”

Partner, commercial law firm
“Rachael grasps issues quickly and is excellent at building rapport. She is just what you want in a serious commercial mediator.”

Partner, commercial law firm
“Rachael very quickly grasps complex technical points and shows tenacity in helping the parties to come to a resolution.”

Associate, international law firm
“Rachael is very effective in helping the parties tackle tricky legal issues while never losing track of the commercial realities. She quickly hones in on what really matters to each side.”

Senior Lawyer, City Firm
“Thank you again for yesterday. [The client] is very happy with the result and very glad it is all over. I also very much appreciated your skill and patience. I hope we get the chance to work together in the future.”

Director, commercial law firm
“I have worked with a number of mediators and there are few who can build rapport and get to the heart of the dispute as quickly as Rachael. She has an excellent manner and her approach to preparing the parties ensures the mediation day is as efficient as possible.”

Senior Associate, Scottish law firm
“Rachael is pragmatic, communicates effectively and creates an atmosphere conducive to the parties finding a resolution. She is excellent at building rapport and controlling the process. I rank her highly amongst the other mediators with whom I have experience of working.”

Consultant, City law firm
“Rachael brings a calming presence and is very good in tense situations.”

Party to a mediation
“Rachael is calm, professional and challenges positions in a collaborative way. She is effective at getting the parties to look at the positions of both sides from different perspectives and in bringing the parties together rather than simply acting as a go-between.”

Party to a mediation
“Rachael, I was so impressed by you at the mediation today. Everyone completely trusted you and you did it all with such brilliant care and thought. Your hard work was completely invaluable, and you demonstrated that you are hugely skilful.”

Party to a mediation
“Rachael’s professionalism, teamed with obvious empathy, patience and great skill was impressive.”

Party to mediation
“We owe Rachael great thanks for her skill and commitment.”

Party to mediation
“Rachael is a highly skilled and knowledgeable mediator who was quickly able to establish a positive rapport and encourage open dialogue.”

Party to mediation
“Rachael showed amazing patience and resolve.”