Kevin Smyth

Background Summary

• CEDR Accredited Civil & Commercial Mediator (uses the ‘commercial one day model’ when mediating MCA Financial Provision & Property Adjustment Claims)
• CEDR Panel Mediator since 1999
• Member of the Court of Appeal’s Mediation Panel since 2003
• Solicitor (now non practising) and former Senior Partner and Head of Litigation
• Headed up Family Law Team
• Law Society Specialist Family Law Panellist 1999 to 2014
• Industry trainer
• Author of articles for legal press
• Appointed a Fellow of the Civil Mediation Council in 2021

Client Feedback

“…sensible, thoughtful, and finally managed to broker an agreement when initially the parties were poles apart… He is uniquely qualified to be a mediator. He is dedicated, organised, experienced and proficient… It was a privilege to witness your calm, measured, authoritative yet warm approach and your making of strategically correct decisions at every stage”.

Overview

Kevin Smyth is a retired solicitor having formerly been a Director, Senior Partner, and Head of Litigation of his firm. Since 1st May 2016, he has been a full-time mediator with over 25 years’ experience. He has conducted over 150 mediations in cases relating to wide variety of disputes and industries, more than 80% of which have resulted in a settlement being reached on or soon after the mediation day. Kevin was first appointed to the Court of Appeal’s Panel of Mediators in October 2003, and he continues to be a member of it. In April 2021, he was made a Fellow of the Civil Mediation Council.

Both as a mediator and/or legal representative in mediations, Kevin has been involved in cases concerning personal injury, clinical and other professional negligence, shareholder and partnership disputes, franchising, life and other insurance indemnities, race discrimination, employment (including workplace mediations for which he is CEDR trained and accredited to conduct), disputed wills and other contentious probate disputes including Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act claims, Court of Protection, financial provision following separation/divorce and many different types of other commercial and personal disputes.

Professional Background

Throughout his post admission career as a Solicitor, Kevin practiced solely as a civil litigation lawyer. For much of that time, he did so in the professional and clinical negligence/personal injury arenas. In the case of the latter, he successfully prosecuted three claims that resulted in awards of damages exceeding £3 – £4 million. Other special areas of practice involved Shareholder/Partnership and other commercial disputes, contested wills/probate cases, employment law and family/matrimonial property disputes. Kevin is also a highly experienced practitioner of independent chairing in the public and private sectors. He has chaired numerous appeal hearings of the Legal Aid Agency’s National Special Review Controls Panel as well as its Funding Review Committees. He has also chaired meetings related to employment and workplace issues and was the Chairman of the Board of Governors of a well-known large independent secondary school for six years.

Mediation Expertise

• Following conclusion of FPR Pre-application Protocol process but before FDA, successfully concluding a one day “family mediation” (using the ‘commercial’ as opposed to family mediation model) involving net assets of £2.9m.
• Conducting several similar lower value mediations prior to the issuing of Form As.

For most of his professional career practising as a lawyer, Kevin had the conduct of many claims brought by divorcing husbands and wives seeking post-divorce financial provision. Many of these were ‘high net worth cases’ involving large pension funds and occasionally complex trust as well as private shareholding issues. Similarly in claims made by non-married as well as Civil Partners.

 

 

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