Dr Lesley Allport

Lesley has a long career as a mediation practitioner spanning more than 30 years. Working initially as a family mediator in the 1980’s, she has been involved in developing new areas of practice such as Special Educational Needs Mediation and Disability Conciliation. She mediates conflicts within families, workplace disputes and education settings as well as having experience in community mediation and cross border child abduction cases.

Lesley delivers foundation mediation training in several different delivery areas. She has a particular interest in involving children as part of the mediation process and was a member of a national working group in the UK to promote best practice in this area. She delivers training both nationally and internationally on the Voice of the Child in Mediation. She has contributed chapters to recent publications edited by prominent mediation practitioners in the UK as well as internationally in the child abduction field.

She has a keen interest in developing professional standards. In the past she chaired the Professional Standards Committee (PSC) of the College of Mediators and currently sits on the Standards Boards of both the Family Mediation Council and the Civil Mediation Council.   

Lesley’s academic interest in mediation began in 2005 with a European Masters’ Degree as part of which she developed a model of supervision specific to mediation. In 2016 she successfully completed her PhD with the Birmingham Law School examining the comparative growth of mediation. Her research included conversations with many mediators working in a variety of contexts and investigated core aspects of mediation practice operating across all sectors.