Oh dear, another TV personality ends up in the newspapers for the wrong reason and an expensive one too. 

Legal cases are public and there is, ignoring the lawyers, only one winner. I rarely hear judges saying their decision is a 'win win result' for the parties. Indeed, Court cases have been compared to gladiatorial contests in which the sole objective is to win and to do so at the expense of your opponent. They are also public events, as the chef Daniel Clifford and his opponent Joanne Dawes have (for good or ill) discovered.

One must assume that the parties tried to resolve their dispute over Ms Dawes's unpaid design fees of £108,000 and Mr Clifford's counterclaim for "shoddy work  and missing items" through discussion and/or some kind of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). I say 'assume' because modern day court procedures (the Civil Procedure Rules) require the parties to go through a pre-action process of, in summary, exchanging written submissions, a without prejudice meeting and/or some form of ADR. Even if they don't do this before they end up in the court system it is very common for judges to direct that the parties, at the very least, attempt some form of ADR. If they don't the sanction is typically dealt with by way of an adverse costs order, e.g. you 'win' but you don't get your costs.

Mediation (benefits)

Perhaps mediation was tried but failed due to the personality traits (as found by Judge Parfitt) of Ms Dawes and Mr Clifford. However, my experience of ADR (typically mediation) is:

1. it usually works, i.e. ends in a settlement;
2. it is quick (compared to court proceedings);
3. it saves money (usually lots and lots);
4. each party (and there can be more than two involved) walks away happy(ish); and
5. the Evening Standard never gets to publish a eye-catching headline because it is a private process.

Yes, one has to pay for the mediator (do pick him/her wisely) but if your court claim is for £108,000 unpaid design fees the court fee alone for issuing the Claim Form (modern name for the Writ) is £5,400 (5% of the claim). You also have to pay lawyers to draft the Claim Form.

Of course, I cannot say mediation is 100% successful or that mediation is suitable for every dispute but it should never be ignored. Even if you try mediation and still end up in court you stand a far better chance of recovering more of your legal costs (assuming you are the winning gladiator).

"Arbitrate don't Litigate"

It is said that there used to be a man outside the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand with a sandwich board bearing the words, "Arbitrate don't Litigate". That was a few years ago which is why I have updated his advice to "Mediate, don't Litigate". Even if you decide mediation is not suitable (which is rarely the case) be ready for the time, cost, stress and adverse publicity that come with court cases.