In memory of David Richbell

It is with great personal sadness that I heard the news that David Richbell passed away on Tuesday 25 September 2018.

David began mediating commercial cases in 1992 and mediated around 1000 cases in the intervals between training mediators.  He was always in demand as a commercial mediator and was continuously recognised as such by the leading legal directories. In 2014 he was recognised as “one of the top ten most respected commercial mediators in the world” by Who’s Who Legal and in 2016 as a Thought Leader in mediation. 

David shared his knowledge through the publication of two books – “Mediation of Construction Disputes” and “How to Master Commercial Mediation”.  He wrote the mediation course for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. David was a huge supporter of CIArb and an inspirational mentor with a character to match. Emails always commenced ‘greetings’ which provided a warm, friendly beginning to what would always be an interesting proposition or observation. David was a once in a lifetime friend

More recently, David led a workshop at CIArb’s Mediation Symposium where he shared his thoughts on mastering mediation. He offered his services to the mediation community by serving, for a number of years, as a Board member of the Civil Mediation Council.