Adjudicators
The following individuals are CISAS adjudicators.
Mair Coombes Davies - Head of the Panel of Adjudicators
Mair Coombes Davies is Head of CISAS Panel of Independent Adjudicators
After receiving degrees from the University of Wales, including a PhD in law, Mair worked as a barrister specialising in disputes, both in and out of court. To date Mair has conducted many hundreds of separate arbitrations, adjudications and mediations and is responsible for several books and articles on this subject including the best selling, 'Avoiding Claims', and, ‘Good Practice Guide: Adjudication’.
Mair is a member of several adjudication, mediation and arbitration panels. She is an appointed arbitrator to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Welsh Assembly Government. She is chairman of the RIBA President’s Advisory Committee on Dispute Resolution.
She is Head of the Dispute Resolution Division of the specialist civil and public law barristers’ chambers, Civitas Law. Her appointments have included a member of the National Council of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, chairman of the Welsh branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and secretary of the Association of Welsh Mediators. She is the editor of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, ‘The Guidance’, which covers the procedures and code of ethical practice and quality for arbitrators, adjudicators and mediators worldwide.
Stephen Bate FCIArb
Stephen is a practising barrister. His background is in Chancery and Common law work, specialising in media and entertainment law for which he is highly recommended in both Chambers Legal Directory and the Legal 500. With over 20 years experience in advisory work and litigation, Stephen has a commitment to ADR. He is a Chartered Arbitrator and a CEDR Accredited Mediator, on the CEDR Solve and CEDR Solve direct panels. He is one of the experts appointed by Nominet to determine disputes over .uk domain registrations, was a Legal Assessor to the Disciplinary Panel of the Jockey Club for some years and is now a member of the Licensing Committee of the British Horseracing Association. 
Ala Blackmore
Following a BA Honours degree in Law, French and German, Ala spent five years as an editor in the European division of Sweet & Maxwell law publishers. Ala then joined CEDR, where she worked for 12 years, latterly as Assistant Director. Ala was accredited as a CEDR Mediator in 2002 and mediates across a broad range of sectors including property, landlord and tenant, intellectual property and commercial contract. Ala became an Adjudicator in 2011 for a tenancy deposits protection scheme and joined the CISAS panel in 2012. Ala’s experience in the field of dispute resolution includes several years managing the Dispute Resolution Services team at CEDR, and assisting organisations, such as the FSA and Healthcare Commission, with the design and implementation of dispute resolution processes and schemes and the training of key personnel. Ala was also seconded to Nominet to mediate domain name disputes and to provide training and development for their mediators.
Demelza Curnow BA (Hons), LLM, LPC, ACI.Arb.
Demelza read Law at Anglia Ruskin University and Umea University (Sweden), she completed a masters degree in International Law at the University of Bristol, after which, she studied the Legal Practice Course at the University of the West of England and and subsequently qualified as a solicitor. She specialised in property, contract, consumer and landlord and tenant disputes. Since 2008 Demelza has been adjudicating on various disputes including the government approved Tenancy Deposit Protection Schemes, the Ombudsman for Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents. Demelza is an associate member of the CIArb.
Alison Dablin
Alison obtained a First class law degree from the University of Buckingham. She has extensive experience in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution, having worked for a government approved Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme investigating and responding to complaints about adjudications. Further to her experience in dealing with complaints, Alison also trained as an in-house adjudicator at the Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited. She has issued over 800 final and binding decisions on consumer law disputes to date. Alison continues to act as adjudicator in deposit disputes in addition to her work under the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme.
Thomas Earley LLB (Hons) PGDL, MCIArb
Thomas obtained his law degree from Collingwood College, Durham, after which he went on to successfully complete the Bar Vocational Course at The College of Law in London. Thomas was subsequently called to the Bar of England and Wales by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.
Thomas gained far-reaching experience of resolving a wide range of commercial disputes through several roles in law firms in both the UK and abroad, before being appointed as an adjudicator. In this capacity, Thomas has acted as adjudicator for two Government-sanctioned tenancy deposit protection schemes, in addition to CISAS and the Postal Redress Service (POSTRS).
Ike Ehiribe FCIArb, FSIArb, QDR
Ike obtained his law degree from the University of Lagos. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1982 and subsequently called to the English Bar in 1996. He practices extensively as a Barrister, Arbitrator and Accredited Mediator with a particular bias for Intellectual Property (Copyright and Trademarks) and IT/ Communications disputes. He has been on the Panel of Neutrals of the W.I.P.O. Arbitration and Mediation Centre in Geneva since 1994. Ike is also a member of a number of Arbitration and Mediation Panels of the CIArb and the Academy of Experts in London. He also sits as an Adjudicator on the Disciplinary Tribunals of a number of professional bodies.
As a Part - time lecturer, he teaches International and Comparative Commercial Arbitration on the LLM External Programme of the University of London. He is also an approved Tutor of the CIArb.
David Griffiths
David is a barrister who works in the areas of commercial litigation, construction disputes and personal injury. David first qualified as a mechanical engineer but, gradually, his career moved towards the commercial sector and he consequently undertook a Masters Degree in Business Administration at the Sheffield Business School.
David is also a Chartered Arbitrator and accredited mediator and has experience of all aspects of settling disputes. These include arbitrations undertaken under the IDRS Consumer Arbitration Schemes. David has also been appointed the Chairman of a Football League Commission.David is approved as a tutor by the CIArb.
Eisei Higashi LLB (Hons) PGDip (LPC) MCIArb
Eisei read Law at City University London and graduated with honours, he went on to complete the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law and specialised in both Corporate and Commercial Law with a particular interest in ADR and Intellectual Property. Eisei has worked at a number of reputable Law firms and has served as in-house legal counsel to various international companies. He has also gained work experience across a multitude of sectors including The Motion Picture Industry, Telecommunications and Human Resources.
Eisei is a Member of the CIArb and to date, he has adjudicated on hundreds of complex consumer law disputes.
Abigail Jennings BA, DipLaw, PgDip (Legal Practice).
Abigail gained a 2:1 BA (Hons) politics degree at Middlesex University. She obtained a graduate diploma in Law and a post-graduate diploma in Legal Practice at the College of Law.
Abigail has worked in dispute resolution for more than ten years and became an adjudicator for consumer law disputes in 2007. She has issued over 700 adjudication decisions for disputes over tenancy deposits under government approved Tenancy Deposit Protection Schemes and for disputes in telecommunications under CISAS. Abigail is an Associate member of the CIArb.
Salah Mattoo B.A., L.L.B. (Hons), L.L.M, BVC, LPC, MCIArb
Salah is a practising Solicitor and read law at the London School of Economics and read economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He was called to the Bar from the Lincoln's Inn in 2007.
Subsequently, he trained at Norton Rose LLP as a Solicitor. He has also gained experience in rendering decisions for disputes over tenancy deposits under government approved Tenancy Deposit Protection Schemes. Previously, he worked as a management consultant in the US.
Mark McGeoch
Mark is a Chartered Quantity-Surveyor who specialised in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering services. This has included setting up, managing and agreeing contracts and accounts with communications contractors and suppliers. Mark now works full time dealing with disputes in the Domestic and International construction and energy sectors.
Mark has trained as a Construction Adjudicator and also receives appointments as a Chartered Arbitrator and Mediator. He has extensive experience of all aspects of settling disputes, including many consumer related matters. Mark is a member of several Arbitration, Adjudication and Mediation panels including those of CEDR, the CIArb, the RICS and TeCSA.
Justine Mensa-Bonsu
Justine read Law at the University of Reading, where she gained a firm grasp of the principles of ADR and graduated with a 2:1 Honours Degree. Justine then spent a year working for a major London travel organisation. During this time she initially handled complaints from the public directly and then spent six months investigating and reporting complaints with a legal team. Following this position Justine undertook and completed the Bar Vocational Course at BPP Law School.
Caroline Obolensky
Caroline Obolensky started her career as a theatrical agent, representing actors and television presenters for voice-over work for documentaries and commercials (television and radio). After a short career break, to bring up her family, she entered the housing market, running a letting agency for approximately ten years. During her time in the housing market, Caroline completed legal and management courses through ARLA and GKJ consultants. She became an adjudicator in 2008, after the launch of the Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme in 2007. Since then, Caroline has adjudicated on several hundreds of cases and continues to work in this field. In addition to her adjudication work, she runs her own business, which is education based, in Sussex. She is also a director of a multi media company, Spot Productions. Caroline is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Vidette Ogden LL.B (Hons)
Vidette graduated with an upper second class Law degree, and was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1986. Vidette then spent a number of years working for leading firms of accountants and solicitors in London and Manchester as a specialist in commercial taxation. She became an accredited mediator in 2010.
Keith Richards
Keith is a Barrister and a Mediator on the CEDR-Solve panel. He has held senior legal and consumer affairs roles at Which? (the UK’s Consumers’ Association) and at ABTA – the Travel Association where he was Head of Consumer Affairs and Professional Development. Keith also worked with the European Commission to establish the European Extra-Judicial Network of ADR schemes (now the European Consumer Centres Network), and with the UK Ministry of Justice in developing it’s ‘Consumer Walkthroughs’ for dispute resolution. He is author of several consumer law books including 450 Legal Problems Solved and spent many years as a member of the Confederation of British Industry’s Consumer Affairs Panel. With more than 25 years experience of consumer protection he has specialised in a wide range of legal areas, notably Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), disabilities and equality rights, construction and professional negligence. He is an independent member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Regulatory Board and Chair of its Global Ethics Committee.
Richard Stephens
Richard read law at Cambridge and subsequently qualified as a barrister before re-qualifying as a solicitor. Richard has worked in and for the technology industry for nearly 25 years, and during that period has spent most of his time involved in dispute resolution, often of technically highly complex cases, as well as of commercial disputes. As a result, Richard has a huge amount of experience in litigation, arbitration and expert determination. Richard was a partner in two City of London law firms before setting up his own practice in 2004, again focusing on the technology industry, providing assistance in transactional work, often involving a contentious element, such as in re-negotiating outsourcing contracts, but also assisting in cases where the parties are seeking to avoid disputes by negotiation or mediation.
Described by Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession as “good news in the most complex of cases” and a “leader in his field”, Richard is also a Fellow of the CIArb, and a CEDR Solve mediator, where he is on their specialist panel dealing with technology and intellectual property cases.
