Tim Hardy

Tim Hardy has built his mediation practice over the last 10 years alongside his private practice as a litigator with CMS, where he led the Commercial Litigation team for 21 years. He has been recognised for his mediation skills by Legal 500 and Who's Who Legal and as a key individual by Chambers & Partners Guide to the Legal Profession for his work in dispute resolution as a litigator. Tim has been recognised by the Legal 500 as ‘thorough, very even-handed, and clearly has a lot of experience in dealing with commercial disputes’.

Tim's reputation as a hugely experienced and successful lawyer precedes him. His mediation practice covers a wide range of disputes with a particular focus on the high value, high complexity financial and commercial disputes on which he built his reputation in private practice. Tim mediates disputes throughout the UK and overseas.

Tim quickly and effectively gets to grip with the legal, commercial and personal issues. He earns the parties’ respect by being naturally empathetic and enquiring, driven by a genuine interest in helping people resolve their differences and sees his role and purpose to be to help the individuals find a solution with which they are happy. He listens to them carefully to be sure that he understands the dividing critical issues in order to address them appropriately. Tim maintains pace by keeping everyone actively engaged and is an excellent judge as to when to be patient and when to challenge positions that may be barring progress while still maintaining the parties’ trust. Many hours of hard-nosed negotiation have given him the skills to guide people through tortuous negotiations, find creative solutions to break impasse and bring them together.

Banking, Finance & Investment

Breach of contract

Class Actions

Commercial contracts

Construction & property

Corporate recovery

Cross-border & international

Defamation

Distribution, agency & licensing

Energy, oil and gas

Engineering

Family Business and Trusts

Franchising

Fraud, deceit & conversion

Information technology (IT)

Insolvency

Insurance

Landlord & tenant

Manufacturing

Mergers & acquisitions

Outsourcing

Partnership disputes

Pensions & life assurance

Professional negligence

Sale of goods and services

Shareholder disputes

Taxation

The most recent editions of the Legal Directories has the following to say about Tim:

Chambers & Partners, 2025:

Tim Hardy of IPOS Mediation has a broad commercial mediation practice. He specialises in contractual, insolvency, shareholder and property disputes.

"Tim's a good mediator and a pleasant person to deal with."

"Tim is very down to earth and easy to work with. He is a very good communicator, which earns him the trust and respect of the parties very quickly."

Chambers & Partners, 2024:

Tim Hardy of IPOS Mediation has a broad mediation practice. He specialises in contractual, insolvency, shareholder and property disputes. "Tim takes a very thorough and painstaking approach to achieve a successful outcome."

"He's a fantastic mediator with great calmness and commercial understanding. I view him in a very strong light."

"Tim Hardy is a very patient and very flexible mediator."

Chambers & Partners, 2023:

Tim Hardy of IPOS Mediation has a broad mediation practice. He specialises in contractual, insolvency, shareholder and property disputes.

Legal 500, 2026:

A former CMS commercial litigation head, Tim Hardy at IPOS Mediation ‘listens well and always goes the extra mile to achieve settlement, really seeking to understand the true motivating factors for the parties. He is good with clients and quickly develops a rapport’. Mediating since 1998, Hardy is particularly focused on high-value, complex financial and commercial disputes. Examples of mediator appointments include property disputes, aircraft lease agreement claims and commercial agency-related conflicts. Hardy’s experience also includes mediating cases featuring bribery, conspiracy and misrepresentation allegations, as well as employment disputes. His industry expertise further covers the insolvency, public procurement, construction and hospitality sectors.

Legal 500, 2025:

'Commercially savvy and hard-working’ Tim Hardy is ‘very experienced, which comes across in his considered approach. He is very adept at working his way around any problem and taking the parties with him’. A former CMS commercial litigation head, Hardy is regularly appointed to mediate a range of complex commercial, corporate, investor and partnership disputes. Receiving his first mediation appointment in 1998, Hardy also conducts financial, insolvency and insurance coverage-related mediations.

Legal 500, 2024:

Tim Hardy, a former CMS commercial litigation group leader, is ‘extremely affable and has the crucial ability to get on with all to put them at ease‘. Hardy is a go-to mediator for complex commercial, corporate, investor, partnership and financial disputes.

Legal 500, 2023:

Tim Hardy (a former commercial litigation team head at CMS) ‘stands out for his ability to ride out the emotions of the parties, and then guide them to a successful resolution‘. Hardy conducted 35 appointments during 2021, his mediation practice particularly focused on high-value and complex financial and commercial disputes.

Legal 500, 2022:

Tim Hardy, who qualified as a mediator in 1997 and previously led the commercial litigation team at CMS, is 'patient and prepared to listen to parties to ensure clients feel their voices have truly been heard'. Recent work has included the mediation of disputes involving supply chain problems, international shareholders, missing trader intra-community VAT fraud, Covid-19-related business interruption insurance, and partnership issues.

Legal 500, 2021:

Tim Hardy qualified as a mediator in 1997 and is CMS' former commercial litigation head. Hardy is 'an excellent mediator, who brings to bear his many years of experience as a senior litigator.  He has a good manner with clients and is a good listener. He can also be firm when he needs to be, but is energetic in trying to bring parties together'. Hardy has conducted over 150 mediations with a notable focus on commercial disputes.

Legal 500, 2020:

Tim Hardy is CMS’ former head of commercial litigation; Hardy left private practice in 2018 to pursue a full-time mediation career. He mediates at In Place of Strife and has mediated an average of one case a week since the start of 2019. He mediated a shareholder dispute between the founder of a luxury brand of goods and a private equity fund.

Tim Hardy is CMS' former commercial litigaition head. Hardy is 'very effective; he shows skill, intelligence, common sense and patience in dealing with very tricky and challenging situations'. His mediation experience predominantly arises out of corporate transactions, finance and commercial contracts. (2019)

Tim Hardy ... is ‘thorough, very even-handed, and clearly has a lot of experience in dealing with commercial disputes’. (2018)

Who's Who Legal: 2022

is a greatly appreciated mediator who is receives endorsements for his combined “broad experience” and “sharp legal acumen”

Who's Who Legal: 2019

Tim Hardy is a “significant figure in mediation” who is “highly recommended” by peers in the field. He regularly works on high-value disputes of a commercial and financial nature.

Tim Hardy is a highly respected and accomplished commercial mediator with a talent for dispute resolution. One respondent says, “He has honed his skills over the years to become one of the finest technically gifted mediators. His sharp legal acumen combined with his tough but fair negotiation style places him as a mediator in high demand." (2017)

1986 to 2018 CMS

1980 to 1985 Slaughter & May

1977 to 1979 Simmons and Simmons

Fellowship Chartered Institute of Arbitrators 2011

PG Dip Oxon International Arbitration 2009

Higher Courts (Civil Proceedings) 2002

Accredited Mediator CEDR 2001

Accredited Mediator ADRg 1998

LLM Advanced Litigation (with distinction) 1996

Committees and Boards:

CEDR non-executive director 2002 to 2011

City of London Law Society, Litigation Subcommittee 2009 to date

LexisNexis Dispute Resolution & Arbitration Editorial Boards 2011 to date

CIArb Practice and Standards Committee 2011 to 2018 (Chair 2012 t0 2015)

CIArb Mediation Subcommittee Chair 2017 to 2018

CPR European Advisory Board 2014 to present

Professional memberships:

London Court of International Arbitration

International Chamber of Commerce

British Institute of Comparative Law

Solicitors’ Association of Higher Court Advocacies

International Bar Association

American Bar Association

CIARB

Enjoys coaching Rugby, open water swimming, dinghy sailing, skiing, fishing and spending time with his family.

"Tim did a great job getting into the myriad complex issues and bringing the parties together to work on a resolution." Partner, Law Firm, November 2023

"We really appreciated Tim’a approach from the very beginning. It was emphatic and sensitive; he led both parties towards a solution of the matter when it appeared to be far from a settlement. He had also an incredible attitude to calm down both parties when they raised their voices. Absolutely recommended." Legal Counsel, February 2020

"We used Tim to mediate a substantial and highly charged partnership dispute with 4 different firms of solicitors representing different partners involved in the dispute.  As with most partnership disputes, there was a large degree of personal animosity which further complicated matters. Tim managed the mediation in a very impressive and controlled way keeping the parties focused throughout the day and he was instrumental in assisting the parties in making good progress well into the evening.  There was insufficient time to conclude matters during a single day but Tim remained focused upon, and engaged in, the mediation and, through a combination of sheer force of will, rational argument and exceptional commercialism, he assisted the parties in engineering a settlement and bringing to an end one of the most difficult and unpleasant cases I have ever dealt with.  I have mediated somewhere near 100 commercial disputes and Tim is by far the "stand out" mediator and I shall certainly be using him again in the future." Partner, City Law Firm, December 2019

“We instructed Tim in relation to a one day mediation of a complex dispute concerning the management of technology funds.  Tim processed and analysed a lot of information, viewpoints and (most importantly!) personalities very quickly and, despite serious differences at the start of the day, was able to bring the parties together to reach a positive agreement by the afternoon.” Senior Associate, City Law Firm December 2019.

“We used Tim Hardy to mediate a recent Partnership dispute. The dispute had escalated almost to the point of no return and involved some very strong personalities, each entrenched in their own positions. Tim was clearly very experienced and quickly got to the nub of the dispute and worked hard with the parties all day with a persistent and tenacious approach. Whilst the mediation did not settle on the day, it did soon afterwards and Tim continued to offer support to the parties and his follow up work was great and was essential in helping to unlock a covenant issue that almost caused the settlement discussions to collapse. I would heartily recommend him as a mediator for complex and bitter disputes.” Director, City law firm, December 2019

“Tim should be the go to mediator for disputes of a technical nature. His approach really helped the parties dive into the detail where necessary without losing sight of the big picture. He also doesn’t give up when the going gets tough and tirelessly presses on to assist the parties reach a resolution”. Partner, Regional Law Firm, Nov 2019

"I will certainly be recommending you to my colleagues and clients - without your patience, authority and good humour, I doubt this matter would have settled."

"My clients were delighted with the result and, if I may say so, your efforts."

"Thank you for your considerable efforts. It was a rather unusual mediation, but you certainly went the extra mile to bring about a very effective resolution."

“Tim controlled the meetings well in light of particular challenges and proposed a sensible strategy for the parties and their experts by which to work through the key areas of contention.”

“Both my clients and I are very grateful for your efforts. You had a keen grasp of the commercial realities of the situation and the skilful way in which you maintained momentum was undoubtedly a major factor in enabling us to reach a settlement.”

“Very sensitive and emphatic towards both parties. With that attitude he brought both parties together to find a solution even though it seemed impossible to settle at the beginning.”

“You conducted the mediation with great courtesy, patience and diligence. I have no doubt, but for your great efforts, we would have not been able to achieve the settlement”.

“Although it started very negatively, despite the ups and downs of the day it all came right on the night. I am sure both parties realised that your skill as a mediator contributed to the successful outcome.”

“His decision to bring matters to a head was a good one, and provided the groundwork for settlement.”

“Kept pressure on both parties to keep them involved” and “Despite immense ill feeling between the parties’ legal representatives, a settlement was achieved.”

“I do not think that we would have achieved the settlement without your hard work, perseverance and efforts during our mediation.”

“I'm certain we would never have been able to facilitate an outcome by ourselves, so I'm extremely grateful for help.”

“Persistent and patient.”

“Has presence and commands respect.”

“You exercised great skill and employed great experience. I can’t really express my admiration for what you did and how you did it but you stopped an old cynic in his tracks anyway. I couldn’t speak more highly of you as a mediator.”