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
Over the last 5 years Rachael has built a thriving mediation practice. She is ranked in Chambers and Partners (2025) as one of the top 50 commercial mediators in the UK, and the only mediator in Scotland, and as a Leading UK Mediator in Legal 500 (2025). She has mediated over 100 commercial and civil disputes across the UK ranging in value from tens of thousands to multimillion pound claims and with up to 6 separately represented parties and 40 participants.
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. She brings to her mediation practice over 12 years’ experience as a solicitor at two of the UK’s most successful premium law firms, where she specialised in the resolution of commercial, professional negligence, insolvency, real estate, corporate and shareholder disputes.
Reflecting her former practice, Rachael is routinely appointed in a broad range of commercial and civil disputes. She has a strong reputation in commercial, professional negligence, construction, real estate, insolvency, company, business interruption, partnership, boardroom, family business related claims and inheritance and executry disputes. She is on the mediation panels for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (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 invitation-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) and Scottish Mediation. 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 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
Panel Mediator of the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association
Panel Mediator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)
President's Panel Mediator of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
Member (MCIArb) of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)
Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Arbitration Centre Panel of Mediators
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.
