Jonathan Russell
Civil & Commercial Mediator
Jonathan is an experienced mediator having initially trained fifteen years ago and since then has conducted well over 100 mediations. Whilst Jonathan’s core profession is that of a Chartered Accountant he is also a member of the Institute of Arbitrators and it was his work as an expert witness and Arbitrator that made him realise the immense value of mediation. With his commercial skills he is most often used to mediate business, commercial and business owner disputes.
Professional Background
Jonathan qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1981 and has worked in practice pretty well all of the time since then except for a couple of secondments to businesses. He first become a partner in a Mid-Size Oxford based practice in 1985 but left there to start his own practice, ReesRussell, in Witney Oxfordshire in 2006.
Jonathan’s first encounter with legal matters was in 1982 when he was appointed as an expert in a fatal accident case and this started his interest in dispute resolution and led to him taking the Institute of Arbitrator Exams.
Having experienced a couple of mediation cases he trained as a mediator in 2002 and promotes the skill both as a way of solving disputes but also to business people as a great skill in management.
He continues to run his accountancy practices, augmented by Russell Phillips in Gerrards Cross, and focuses on helping small businesses and charities. Running a small practice himself he feels he has empathy with other business people and is a great believer in making things simple.
He is a past President of the UK200Group and regularly lectures and writes on their behalf..
Jonathan is one of the founder members of Hexagon Mediation.
Mediation Experience
Jonathan has conducted a large number of mediations over a wide range of legal areas but essentially is at his best when disputes are of a commercial or business nature. He finds that he usually mediates lower value claims with only a few being worth more than 1 million pounds.
Aside from normal commercial disputes there have been a few areas which have cropped up more often or are unusual:-
- Inter Partner disputes in legal practices
- Consequential loss claims following business interruption
- ‘Divorce’ issues arising when both parties are involved in a family business
- Director/Shareholder disputes often involving restraint of trade or data theft issues
- Contractor disputes following claims of delays or unsatisfactory workmanship.
- Disputes arising from warranties and earn outs following company sales.
Publications & Training
Jonathan is a regular speaker at training events both to accountants and lawyers but also to business people. Most recently he has spoken at an International Forum on the art of negotiation as it applies to Brexit.
He regularly has articles published and is a regular writer for the SAIF magazine.
Mediation Areas
Jonathan tends not to think in legal areas of dispute, being an accountant, but has a good understanding of all areas of business with the exception of the financial services industry. If it is a commercial dispute Jonathan can almost certainly help.