Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A UCL Centre for Dispute Resolution event. Lecture was delivered by Bill Marsh on Wednesday 11 March 2026.
About the lecture
Mediation is now central to our civil justice system. The pragmatic arguments for that are well-trodden. But are mediators “mere” pragmatists, or can mediation deliver “justice”? Should it even aspire to? And if so, how? Bill Marsh will draw on his experiences of mediating with large groups of people pursuing “justice” in emotive situations, from Grenfell Tower to Bosnia, to pose questions about whether mediators are really in the business of “justice”.
Welcome and Introduction by Associate Professor John Sorabji
Lecture delivered by Bill Marsh
Q&A - facilitated by Dr Anna Howard
About the speaker
In Bill’s own words, he has “hung around the middle of other people’s fights, to see who wants to talk” for some 35 years. He mediates in commercial, civil, environmental, religious and human rights conflicts, in this country and overseas. He also trains and mentors mediators, and advises governments on mediation. He is married to Belinda, and they have three adult sons. Bill is an average but enthusiastic fly-fisherman.
A UCL Centre for Dispute Resolution event. Lecture was delivered by Bill Marsh on Wednesday 11 March 2026.
About the lecture
Mediation is now central to our civil justice system. The pragmatic arguments for that are well-trodden. But are mediators “mere” pragmatists, or can mediation deliver “justice”? Should it even aspire to? And if so, how? Bill Marsh will draw on his experiences of mediating with large groups of people pursuing “justice” in emotive situations, from Grenfell Tower to Bosnia, to pose questions about whether mediators are really in the business of “justice”.
Welcome and Introduction by Associate Professor John Sorabji
Lecture delivered by Bill Marsh
Q&A - facilitated by Dr Anna Howard
About the speaker
In Bill’s own words, he has “hung around the middle of other people’s fights, to see who wants to talk” for some 35 years. He mediates in commercial, civil, environmental, religious and human rights conflicts, in this country and overseas. He also trains and mentors mediators, and advises governments on mediation. He is married to Belinda, and they have three adult sons. Bill is an average but enthusiastic fly-fisherman.
