Sarah-Jane Macdonald

Core invited young professionals to submit a short presentation on the topic: “What one change would make a real difference and increase the use of mediation in civil and commercial cases in Scotland?”

The Core@20 prize was awarded to Ms Macdonald for “an entry which was a bit different, persuasively written, contained a compelling personal story and in particular focused on an important area, namely fear of failure among those advising clients”.

Ms Macdonald will receive a £750 prize, while five runners-up will each receive a copy of Dr Anna Howard’s recently published book on EU cross-border commercial mediation.

The runners-up are Mitchell Abbott (CMS), Megan Anderson (Anderson Strathern), Lorna MacFarlane (Dentons), Amy Roberts (CMS) and Hikari Saito (PhD student at the University of Aberdeen).

Each of the entries will be showcased at an event Core is hosting in association with Young Mediators on Tuesday 18 May, 5.30pm, which is open to all.

John Sturrock QC, founder and senior mediator at Core, said: “It’s inspiring to see the next generation of professionals really engaging with mediation in such thoughtful and sophisticated ways. It’s been a privilege to read the ideas in each of these excellent entries.

“I hope policy-makers will take notice of the proposals. And I am delighted that Young Mediators are co-hosting the event in May as the next generation has so much to contribute.”