NWA & Anor v NVF & Ors [2021] EWHC 2666 – 8 October 2021 (The Honourable Calver J)

An arbitration agreement provided that the parties were to first seek settlement by mediation. The claimants simultaneously commenced arbitration and sought a stay pending mediation. The respondents failed to engage, later arguing that the claimants’ failure first to mediate deprived the tribunal of jurisdiction to determine the (now time-barred) claim. The Court, dismissing the respondents’ s.67 challenge to the tribunal’s jurisdiction award, found the arbitration was validly commenced, with the mediation requirement being merely a procedural condition.