Band 3
Provided by Rachael Bicknell
Agriculture and rural business
Boundary and access
Breach of contract and warranty claims
Commercial and business
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
Sale of goods and services
Telecoms
Rachael is one of 60 commercial mediators in the UK ranked in Chambers and Partners (2024) and is also recognised as a Leading UK Mediator in Legal 500 (2024). She has mediated over 100 commercial and civil disputes and now mediates around 25 high value cases each year. In the last 2 years she has mediated disputes with a combined value of c.£50 million, and with an average dispute value of c.£1 million
Rachael consistently receives excellent client feedback and has been described as “hugely skilful”, “impressive”, “incredible”, “the best mediator I’ve come across in a long time” and “my first choice of mediator”. 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, even when they remain some considerable distance apart.
Rachael is the founder of Squaring Circles, winner of a UK National Mediation Award in 2020. For 12 years she practised as a dispute resolution solicitor at two of the UK’s most successful premium law firms, specialising in commercial, professional negligence, insolvency, real estate, corporate and shareholder disputes. During this time Rachael represented clients 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, Rachael is routinely instructed in a broad range of commercial and civil disputes, including those where the subject matter is out with her expertise as a solicitor. She has a strong reputation in commercial, professional negligence, construction, real estate, insolvency, company, business interruption, partnership, boardroom, family business, rural business and agriculture, inheritance and executry disputes. She is on the UK panels for the RICS and the Scottish Land Commission. She handles disputes involving corporates, insurers, private, public and third sector clients and has mediated disputes with parties from the UK, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the USA, Canada and Australia.
Rachael is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators (IAM), an invite-only organisation of the world’s pre-eminent commercial mediators. She is also certified by the International Mediation Institute (IMI) and the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) and a registered civil and commercial mediator with the Civil Mediation Council (CMC). She trained in negotiation and mediation at Harvard Law School and the Strauss Institute at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law respectively. She is a Fellow of ADR ODR International and on the mediation panels for the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) in Seoul and the ADGM Arbitration Centre in Abu Dhabi.
Rachael is now a member of the training faculty on the RICS Mediation Training Programme and until 2023 taught negotiation skills on the Online LLM in Dispute Resolution at the University of Aberdeen, a UK top-10 law school.
Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators
International Mediation Institute (IMI) Certified Mediator
Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) Certified Mediator
Specialist Mediator of the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association
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
University of Edinburgh
Bachelors of Law (LLB)
1999 - 2004
University of Edinburgh
Diploma in Legal Practice (DipLP)
2004 - 2005
Core Solutions
Accredited Mediator
2015
Harvard Law
Program on Negotiation
2019
CEDR
Accredited Negotiator
2020
ADR ODR International
Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator
2020
RICS
Accredited Mediator
2021
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
Mediating the Litigated Case
2021
Provided by Chambers
Rachael Bicknell of Squaring Circles uses her legal background to mediate a variety of commercial disputes. These range from professional negligence to insolvency, partnership and construction, among others.
Provided by Chambers
Rachael was brilliant. She managed a very heated dispute with skill and precision.
Rachael is a real pleasure to work with, providing commercial and effective mediation support. She empathises with clients and gets the balance right between challenging parties and remaining neutral.
She is a very passionate mediator who seeks to achieve an agreeable outcome for all involved. With her background in commercial litigation, she understands both the legal and the business issues.
Rachael was brilliant. She managed a very heated dispute with skill and precision.
Rachael is a real pleasure to work with, providing commercial and effective mediation support. She empathises with clients and gets the balance right between challenging parties and remaining neutral.
She is a very passionate mediator who seeks to achieve an agreeable outcome for all involved. With her background in commercial litigation, she understands both the legal and the business issues.
