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Unfortunately, it appears that Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy have not yet managed to resolve their dispute using mediation and the services of a mediator. It would be wrong to speculate however as mediation is confidential.

The footballers’ wives are in the midst of a long running defamation dispute about a tweet published by Coleen Rooney which is alleged to have identified Rebekah Vardy as the source of a social media leak known as the “Wagatha Christie” tweet which went viral.

On 4 February 2021 they took part in a remote Zoom mediation. As the press reports, “Proceedings began with both sides reading out a statement and then breaking off into separate virtual rooms as the mediator spoke to the Wags and their legal representatives independently.” So it appears that they had an opening joint session, as would be expected in a mediation.

We have been providing mediation remotely before and during the pandemic using Zoom and it looks likely that like online shopping and home working, this means of dispute resolution will become the norm in future. Coronavirus has changed the way people conduct litigation irreversibly. It is clearly now being used in even high profile cases where previously the parties would have met in person. Remote mediation certainly has its advantages including saving the cost and time of travelling to a venue and having to physically meet your opponent.

The Court ordered the parties to mediate in the contentious defamation proceedings about Coleen Rooney’s tweet. The proceedings highlight how social media has become a litigation battleground in recent years.
The mediation is said to have lasted for 2 days, which is longer than the normal 1 day.

The Daily Mail reported that Coleen has handed Rebekah an ‘olive branch’ and made her an offer to ‘agree to disagree’ as they head into mediation.

If accepted, settlement would see both parties make a substantial donation to charity.

They would also pay their own legal costs, known as a ‘drop hands’ settlement.

However, it was then reported that Coleen Rooney  was refusing to apologise. It was said that ‘Becky however is adamant she’s not done anything wrong and wants an apology, along with the posts put on social media by Coleen deleted.’

It is not known where the information has come from as mediation is confidential but it may just be press and news speculation.

It is suggested that even if there has been no resolution of the dispute, the negotiations will continue, which is often the case following a mediation. It would be unfair to say that a mediation which does not resolve in settlement is a “failure” as issues can be narrowed and it can form the foundations for a later settlement. When stakes are high and costs of litigation are large as in this case, there is an incentive to settle. It is said that legal costs could exceed £1m and as has been pointed out, this would be a waste of money. Over 90% of cases do settle at mediation and the majority of High Court cases do resolve before trial. So this case is likely to be resolved before a potentially damaging trial takes place.

One thing is for sure – mediation has taken centre stage in this long running dispute and this may encourage more people to try online or remote mediation.

#mediate #mediation #rooney #vardy
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9224439/Cold-affront-Rebekah-Vardy-goes-head-head-Coleen.html