Employment Law Seminars - Mediator Northern Ireland

Scott Alexander is an accredited mediator based in Northern Ireland.

Before joining Legal-Island in 2006, Scott worked at the Labour Relations Agency for some 14 years. His duties over the period included individual and collective conciliation, advisory services, training officer, partnership working and managing the enquiry point team. As arbitration secretary he organised the majority of appeals, arbitrations and mediation hearings run under the auspices of the LRA. He was also a senior NIPSA trade union lay official and represented staff at management/union negotiating committees, disciplinary hearings etc. So, Scott has seen disputes from just about every angle and at every stage and values early resolution over litigation almost every time.

Scott is a member of the CIPD and the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland.

Barry Phillips is a qualified mediator with the Mediators' Institute of Ireland.

Barry qualified as a barrister in 1993 working first in London and then in Northern Ireland as an inhouse employment lawyer. Prior to qualifying he worked at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the International Labour Organisation in Geneva.

Barry has over 6 years experience of advising and representing clients before Industrial Tribunals and 14 as an employer. As CEO of Legal-Island, he employs approximately 18 staff and has recently written mediation into the company's internal workplace policies.

Although Barry has a legal background, he is a firm advocate of mediation as a means of resolving disputes at an early stage before they spiral into costly litigation. Currently, Barry Chairs Northern Ireland's first Mediation Best Practice Club which was formed to help mediators here develop and practice their mediation skills.

Barry is also a fully qualified trainer and has published many articles on employment law and human rights issues.

Kerry Taggart is an accredited mediator based in Northern Ireland.

Kerry has 10 years management experience in the hospitality and event sector in Northern Ireland. Over the last four years she has been an integral part of the HR and Legal learning environment with Legal-Island which includes such areas as discipline and underperformance, workplace investigations and mock industrial tribunals. During this work it became obvious that any process of developing a positive, effective workplace culture included the task of dealing with conflict.  Kerry trained as a mediator to be able to deal with conflict issues and to help employers develop conflict positive workplaces. As Vice-President of the Northern Ireland Best Practice Club, she is currently developing strong mediation links throughout Northern Ireland. 

As an event manager and first point of contact to hundreds of delegates and dozens of suppliers she is adept at turning difficult situations into positive outcomes using her excellent communication and negotiation skills. Kerry's insight into the complex relationships within organisations, along with her natural people focused skills, allows her to create a safe environment whereby mediation can thrive.