2015 Legal Awards

Legal Awards 2015 M&A awards 33 LEGAL awards ~ Best for Professional Indemnity - UK Andrew Goodman is an independent practitioner at the professional indemnity Bar. He provides us with a tantalising glimpse of his more unorthodox role. Throughout my career as a barrister and mediator and I have always tried to be a pioneer, helping to shape my field in the legal industry and change the way legal services are provided. Having been a founder and then Secretary of the Professional Negligence Bar Association for nearly 20 years, I rode the wave of the first tranche of lender claims throughout the 1990s, acting as leading junior for three major banks before moving into high value indemnity claims brought by private high net worth individuals. In 1989 I first saw the potential for commercial mediation as a vehicle for dealing with professional indemnity work, and started manoeuvring my practice in that direction as a mediation advocate, an activity in which I now specialise. As such I spend much of my time in that capacity, working in an advisory and strategic role for clients in the UK, the Gulf and the Far East. Practice in my sector requires flexibility of approach, which is why I find mediative solutions are much better suited to client need. Professional indemnity claimants have already been subject to some error or systemic failure by a fellow professional, and feel let down. Therefore from the outset their legal representative needs to ask whether being right – obtaining judgment – is actually enough to give the client what he wants, which often is an explanation, an apology, a vehicle to restore confidence or relationships, or a change in practice as well as financial settlement. Sometimes the power of the court does not provide the optimum solution; and it comes at too great a cost in terms of fees and disbursements, management time, damage to relationships, reputation and concomitant stress in the client. Ultimately I measure my success by the client relationships I develop, which transcend any one piece of litigation, and become close acquaintanceships, if not friendship. I also like to pass on my knowledge and techniques through training and writing, which ensures that I am making a difference both to individual clients and the wider legal industry. Name: Andrew Goodman LLB MBA PhD FCIArb FInstCPD FRSA Barrister, CEDR Mediator, SCMA Mediation Advocate and trainer. Company: Chambers of John Ross QC, 1 Chancery Lane Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.1chancerylane.com Address: 1 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1LF Telephone: +44 (0)207 092 2900 Andrew Goodman