Ben Tisdall is a fully qualified civil and SEND mediator. He is a former solicitor, running his own practice in Torquay, after being a partner in a firm and working in Plymouth for many years. Before his legal career, Ben worked for twelve years in public relations marketing, and journalism. His clients included magazines such as Private Eye, and The Oldie, and newspapers as diverse as the Guardian, Financial Times, and Daily Mail. He also worked on projects for Goldman Sachs Bank, a range of TV shows and many book publishers. As a lawyer, Ben has assisted clients in many areas of law including all sorts of civil, property, money and contractual disputes, divorce and child contact issues and wills and probate disputes. He is an evangelical advocate for mediation, and strongly believes anything can be sorted out by a good mediator if both sets of participants are willing to engage in the process.
Ben is a fully trained Special Educational Needs and Disability Mediator, and finds mediating in this area particularly rewarding. He enjoys helping families navigate the difficult SEND arena and assisting with EHCP plans.
Ben lives in Torquay, and after turning fifty in 2024 has finally retired from playing rugby, and enjoys watching now.
Jonathan has for more than 25 years played a leading role in conflict resolution through what became known as non-violent communication, and is an award-winning mediator accepted as an international thought-leader. He has been described at the ‘Lionel Messi of Mediation’ and as well as being one the UK’s top mediators, has shared his skills as a pioneering teacher of mediation skills, including setting up a restorative justice scheme in South Africa.
Faculty Director of the Society of Mediators, and a former Judge Advocate, he relinquished the Navy’s bench to work from India to Ireland, and Cape Town to Corfu: his special teaching of mediation and Restorative Justice is iconic – as is his commitment to directing the flow of the Society’s Faculty.
Founder of the UK’s Civil Mediation Council in 2012 and later of the Society of Mediators charity in 2020, he continues to develop ideas that inspire, motivate and change dispute resolution. Jonathan is a member of the Council for Non-Violent Communication and presents workshops around the world. An early adopter and staunch advocate of ADR in the UK, Jonathan has written chapters on the subject for a number of legal texts as well as the best-selling handbook Practical Mediation.
He balances his busy mediation practice with supporting four grandsons in their quests for fun and exploring the planet on old motorcycles. Based in London, and Dartmouth, and also spends much time now working and teaching in Greece, Gibraltar, and South Africa, as well as the Caribbean.
He is reported as:
“Exceptional – can conjure the very rabbit from a dark and difficult hat.”
“Completely prepared, accessible, and confidential – Jonathan has that special ability to get people to talk effectively”.
“Gifted and the #1 choice to mediate conflict, he massaged us to a superb settlement.”
Donna Morcom is a fully qualified and accredited mediator and member of the Society of Mediators. By day, Donna is a qualified employment solicitor working for a city based international law firm. Donna is also the Managing Director of Sekoya, an HR and Employment Law practice. Prior to qualifying as a solicitor, Donna worked for many years in the NHS as a project manager co-ordinating delivery doctor’s training and ensuring its efficacy. During her career in Law which spans almost 20 years, Donna has assisted clients in many areas of law including commercial and civil disputes, but her main area of expertise is employment.
Although Donna is a tenacious lawyer, she is also highly thought of for her ability to find a practical solution to problems thus avoiding costly litigation. Donna lives in Truro but can rarely be found there at the weekends as she is also a keen ‘motor-homer’ and can be seen in the crowd at many England rugby games – she even went on tour this year in France following the team in the World Cup.
Chris is a former civil servant and qualified barrister. Chris has built up a private consulting practice in international development which he runs alongside his mediation practice. Chris will consider any civil, commercial and workplace mediation work, and brings a wealth of business and conflict resolution experience.
After graduating from Oxford and London with degrees in jurisprudence and international law, Chris took a specialist role in the Civil Service in 2000 as a Governance Adviser. He has worked both in London and overseas with governments in partner countries, including mediating relations between officials and civil society to help secure better access to basic services for citizens. He also spent this time working on options for alternative dispute resolution. Between 2014-2018, he was seconded to the United Nations.
Within the civil service he developed skills resolving workplace disputes, while managing teams and departments of up to 50 staff. He has lived in Hove for the past 20 years when not overseas, and volunteers locally.
Kelly Lemon is an accredited civil and commercial mediator with a particular focus on property-related disputes, drawing on over a decade of experience in the sector. Based in North Northamptonshire — nestled between the Midlands and Leicestershire, with easy access to London — she works with clients across the UK.
A former broadcast journalist, Kelly began her career reading the news and asking tough questions before moving into business and building a successful property portfolio from the ground up. Her journey eventually led her and her family to a converted windmill, where she now lives with her husband and three children.
Alongside her mediation work, Kelly is an award-winning portfolio landlord and regularly speaks on topics including joint ventures, conflict prevention, and safe investing. She’s passionate about helping people avoid disputes altogether — but equally skilled at stepping in when things go wrong.
Kelly trained with the London School of Mediation and is a member of both the Civil Mediation Council and the International Mediation Institute. Known for her calm, practical approach, she brings both empathy and structure to emotionally charged or legally complex disputes.
Prior to becoming a mediator Richard Bull served as a Police Officer for over 30 years. He has been trained to the very highest levels of police negotiation and spent many years dealing with high-risk and high-profile incidents of kidnap, hostage and crisis as well as matters relating to counter terrorism.
Richard was also involved in the selection and training of other negotiators. He has found that many of these skills lend themselves to being an effective and pragmatic mediator. Based in the Southwest of England he is available to mediate throughout the UK. He also teaches mediation skills regularly to students for the Society of Mediators and brings the same no-nonsense pragmatic approach to his mediations to these courses.
Richard is a fully trained hypnotherapist, often doing pro bono work for police officers with PTSD.
As an avid rugby fan he supports Northampton Saints, also to be found on the golf course regularly.
