A legal practitioner with a reputation for integrity and fairness has recently been fined for professional
misconduct occurring while representing a client in mediation. The solicitor was acting
for a client in a compulsory statutory mediation to resolve a claim for damages for personal injuries.
He withheld information, newly available, from the insurance company representatives: his
client had just discovered he had cancer. This was unrelated to the incident giving rise to his claim.
The cancer was secondary and likely would reduce his life expectancy and the value of his claim
(although this was assumed rather than established). The insurance company settled in ignorance
of this information and later sought to set aside the settlement.