Sean Patterson

I qualified as a mediator with Core Mediation in 2012 and have continued to be an accredited mediator ever since.

My training as mediator involved role play with an emphasis on engagement and hands-on participation in the process. I learned the importance of empathy and of gaining the mutual trust and respect of the parties, keeping them involved and updated as matters advance, all the while maintaining a crucial guiding role. I have continued to refresh and keep up with my training on an annual basis, striving to always improve my skills.

I was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in September 1995 and the Bar of Ireland in 2003. My practice involves mainly civil and criminal work. More recently my criminal practice has been entirely defence-based but I also spent some years prosecuting. My civil practice largely involves personal injury work, mainly for plaintiffs but with some defence work. In more than 20 years of practice, I have appeared in every level of court and tribunal in Northern Ireland.

I apply my mediation training & expertise to my practice at the Bar, in the fields of litigation, negotiation and client care. In these areas, as with mediation, the key is often to identify and get to the heart of the dispute, whether criminal or civil. This can only be achieved by genuinely listening and by the clients/parties knowing that they are being both listened to and heard. From there, the necessary work can be done to achieve a settlement. I have had considerable experience as a barrister of multi-party litigation and its inherent complexities and am able to apply same to my mediation practice.