Rachael Bicknell

Practice Areas

Agriculture and rural business

Boundary and access

Breach of contract and warranty claims

Commercial

Construction and engineering

Corporate and shareholder

Employment

Energy

Family business

Inheritance and executry

Insolvency

Land and forestry

Landlord and tenant

Partnerships

Professional negligence

Real Estate

Telecoms

Career

Rachael has quickly established herself as a leading UK mediator and is ranked by both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500. She has mediated over 75 commercial and civil disputes since 2020, and now mediates around 25 high value cases each year, with an average dispute value in excess of £1,000,000 over the past 18 months.

Rachael consistently receives excellent client feedback and has been described as “hugely skilful”, “impressive”, “incredible” and "the best mediator I’ve come across in a long time”. She is renowned for her calm, assured and personable manner, her thorough preparation, and her ability to grasp complex technical issues and to quickly understand multiple issues and competing interests. Rachael is also praised for her tenacity and resilience in helping the parties to come to a resolution, and her ability not to give up, even when the parties remain some considerable distance apart.

Rachael is the founder of Squaring Circles, winner of the UK wide National Mediation Awards 2020 Newcomer of the Year. Before becoming a full-time mediator, for 12 years she practised as a dispute resolution solicitor at two of the UK’s most successful premium law firms, representing negotiating parties in mediations and solicitor to solicitor negotiations of commercial disputes ranging in value from tens of thousands to multimillion pound claims.

Reflecting her former practice as a solicitor, Rachael is routinely instructed in a broad range of commercial disputes. She handles disputes across the UK involving corporates, insurers, private, public and third sector clients.

Rachael is a Certified Mediator with the International Mediation Institute (IMI) and the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI). She is also a registered civil and commercial mediator with the Civil Mediation Council in England & Wales and with Scottish Mediation.

Rachael was appointed to the ADGM Arbitration Centre Panel of Mediators in Abu Dhabi in January 2023, the RICS President’s Panel for Mediation in October 2022 and to the Scottish Land Commission mediation panel in January 2021. She also teaches negotiation skills on the Online LLM in Dispute Resolution at the University of Aberdeen, a UK top-10 law school.

Professional Memberships

International Mediation Institute (IMI) Certified Mediator

Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) Certified Mediator

President's Panel Mediator of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Arbitration Centre Panel of Mediators

Member (MCIArb) of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)

Civil Mediation Council registered mediator

Scottish Mediation registered mediator