Ian Ridd

Barrister

Commercial & Property, Property Damage

In June 2018 Ian retired from practice as a barrister in London in order to concentrate on his ADR practice. Prior to that Ian had enjoyed a successful career at the Bar, specialising in commercial and property law, including property damage, as well as employment, professional negligence and professional disciplinary and regulatory law.

Key dates

  • Accredited Mediator: 2005
  • Arbitrator (Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators): 1994

Expertise

In the field of property damage, at the Bar Ian gained extensive experience of litigating and facilitating the settlement of a wide range of claims for damage caused to property by fire, flood and contamination. He is recognised for his broad expertise in commercial claims, ranging from loss of profits and termination of contract, to sale of goods, product liability, carriage of goods, banking, securities and insurance related claims.

Since 1994 Ian has gained wide experience of all fields of ADR, initially working just in arbitration and then mediation and later working in all the developing areas of ADR. Following a keen interest in the practice of early neutral evaluation from the early days of its use in England and Wales, Ian joined IE in 2017 as an evaluator.

Ian is widely regarded for his ability to identify the essential points in a case and accurately to assess the likely outcome should the case go to trial. Such skills mean Ian is ideally suited and much in demand to act as an Independent evaluator in his specialist areas of law.

Alongside his commercial litigation practice at the Bar, Ian has long been a keen exponent and practitioner of all forms of ADR. Ian is a particular enthusiast for early neutral evaluation, having witnessed its success, both as counsel for parties seeking resolution of their disputes and as an evaluator himself.

Ian was instrumental in developing the successful model of Independent Evaluation for commercial and property damage claims, and is highly regarded for his skill in nudging parties towards a negotiated settlement at Evaluations in property damage disputes.

Notable cases

  • Harleyford Golf Club v Flare Services Ltd [2017]
  • Somers v British Gas [2016]
  • GL Property Ltd v GL Developments Ltd [2015]
  • Cummings v Wilkinsons Electrical Ltd [2015]
  • Hygienic Process Equipment v Microdat Ltd [2014]
  • Transformers & Rectifiers Ltd v Needs Ltd [2014]

Memberships

  • Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
  • TECBAR
  • London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association