SHOCKING - Biased and unprofessional mediator.
SHOCKING – Biased and unprofessional mediator. I am extremely shocked and appalled by the three mediation sessions I witnessed between my partner and her ex-partner. The mediator, Paul Kemp, was extremely biased towards the other party and this was evident in his follow-up notes where he detailed the other party as having made all of the proposals and suggestions that my partner had actually put forward. The notes were riddled with inaccuracies and all 3 sets of Paul’s notes had been written to favour the other party; Paul was in no way in line with the Family Mediation Standards Boards codes of conduct regarding impartiality. Even after my partner arranged a meeting with Paul to discuss his biased and an issue relating to conflict of interest, Paul’s third set of notes were still factually incorrect and biased towards the other party. Due to this we cancelled the mediation process with The Worcester Family Mediation Practice (WFMP). To address our concerns further, I subsequently, raised my concerns to Paul in a letter attached to an email, to which he completely ignored, noting the WFMP did not have a complaints procedure at this time. This behaviour is reflective of his conduct within the mediation sessions where he was dismissive to points and concerns raised by my partner and me. My partner also submitted a formal complaint, and we have since received a response from the WFMP; essentially this was a standard response where they had no interest in investigating the issues further; thus, nothing will change.
I had attended these mediation sessions to support my partner as she was anxious about why mediation had been arranged by her ex-partner who is controlling and manipulative. Noting the sensitivities surrounding mediation it was emotionally difficult for her, to then be treated unfairly by Paul and receiving inaccurate notes caused her even more anxiety and disappointment. I’m a professional engineer and have been in the RAF for 23 years, I am so shocked at the lack of professionalism and how biased Paul was. Even when greeting Paul, he looked straight past me and had no real interest in engaging with my partner or me. This is not something we should have experienced, and I expected a high level of professionalism from someone who trained as a solicitor and has been a mediator for 30 years.
Paul’s impartiality and professionalism has previously been questioned; I recommend you read the Google review from Jenna-Leigh Cogbill, who had a similar experience, before proceeding with the WFMP.
I am unbale to comment on the professionalism of the other mediators at the Worcester Family Mediation Practice but as Paul is a Principal mediator for this practice I would proceed with caution.
19 May 2025
Unprompted review