“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” Plato

MCMS’s pupillage scheme is designed to help aspiring adjudicators bridge the gap between theoretical training and practical experience through dedicated support, invaluable knowledge sharing, and feedback from two of the UK’s most prominent dispute resolvers.

MCMS is dedicated to helping the next generation navigate their careers and help them to become equipped with the essential skills necessary to deal with the complex process that adjudication has become.  

The Benefits  

Adjudicators today are required to produce decisions in a climate where those decisions, and the reasoning for them, are coming under greater scrutiny. We are moving, if we haven’t arrived already, towards a situation where the standard required is no different to that expected of an arbitrator, but without the luxury of the time to reflect. Adjudicators are often required to work within tight timelines in what can be a high-pressure environment, which can create particular challenges and a number of potential pitfalls for the unwary.

Our pupils have the opportunity to obtain experience and constructive feedback on decision writing in a live, but safe environment. The scheme aims to not only develop their skills in reaching an enforceable decision, but also one which is thorough, logical and well drafted. The aim is to help aspiring adjudicators develop effective case and time management skills, which are fundamental to enable them to control the adjudication process.  

Our adjudicators pride themselves on their reputation in the industry and the hope is that a pupillage offered by MCMS will increase the quality of future decisions. Parties will hopefully then consider, and be comfortable with, the appointment of less experienced or well-known adjudicators to decide their disputes in the knowledge that they have had the benefit of shadowing an experienced adjudicator. This should hopefully in turn encourage greater diversity.  

With many experienced UK adjudicators set to retire over the coming 10 years, we are committed to helping prepare a more diverse next generation of practitioners to take their place in the meantime.    

The Process

Once MCMS has obtained approval from the parties for a pupil to shadow the adjudication, our approach is to try and get the pupil in to “real time” as quickly as possible. Inevitably there will be a lag between the real-time events as they unfold in the initial stages of the adjudication, and when the pupil deals with them, e.g. dealing with the enquiry, the appointment and receipt of the Referral. This will involve the pupil preparing first communications with the parties, drafting directions and responding to jurisdictional challenges or timetabling issues. The aim is that, by the Response, the pupil will be in a “live” situation and dealing with case management issues as and when they arise, attending any hearings and site inspections (as an observer only) and ultimately preparing their decision independently.

Upon completion of the adjudication process, our adjudicators will then offer constructive feedback to the pupil and suggestions for improvement. By closely observing the adjudicator, pupils will also get to learn the most effective techniques to manage the adjudication process and the types of challenges that are thrown up by the parties.

Once the pupil has shadowed the adjudicator on three occasions and produced three separate decisions, MCMS provides confirmation of completion of pupillage which can be used by the pupil in support of any applications they may wish to make to adjudicator nominating bodies (“ANBs) to be admitted onto their panels.

The Selection Criteria  

To be accepted onto our pupillage scheme, pupils will need to have satisfied the academic requirements to be included on either the CIArb or RICS panel, which typically are either a Diploma in Adjudication or an LLM/MSc with a Decision Writing module.

The Pupils

Since 2019, our experienced adjudicators have mentored almost 60 pupils. Along with the generosity of the parties and their legal representatives in allowing pupils to shadow their disputes, the time and support offered by our team to develop new adjudicators is greatly appreciated and a beneficial experience for all involved. Read more about what some of our former pupils have to say: