‘The Black Books are the minutes from the meetings of the Inn’s Council, which date back to 1422. They are so called because they are bound in black leather.’ https://lnkd.in/ey32RKB6

I am a member of Lincoln’s Inn, which is where I was called to the Bar. So, for me personally, this is a great honour that was unimaginable when I was a 2nd 6 month pupil, in what is now Maitland Chambers.

After completing pupillage I re-qualified as a solicitor.

Upon passing what in those days were known as the ‘Law Society Finals’ (of which I was required to pass half the course – including the ‘Accounts’ and ‘Tax’ exams, whilst simulateously working as an articled clerk in the ‘Trusts’, ‘Commercial Property’, and ‘Company and Commercial’ departments of a leading West End International Law firm), I worked as a commercial solicitor in both industry and private practice, until returning to the Bar, when I joined 1 EC Barristers – which in those days was known as 1 Essex Court.

The book was donated to Lincoln’s Inn Library at my request, by the Law Society of England and Wales.

The 2nd Edition of the ‘Contentious Probate Handbook’ was published in print by the Law Society in February.

The Law is stated as at 1 September 2024.

You can order the book using one of the following links:

– https://lnkd.in/dHtHQjBz (who deliver worldwide).
– https://lnkd.in/ejzMFjyn.
– https://lnkd.in/eQeZaqC8.

My next live Zoom webinar to be presented to members of the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates worldwide in 2025 is entitled – ‘Mediation Advocacy in the Tax-Efficient Settlement of Inheritance Act, Beneficial Interest & Proprietary Estoppel Claims.’

The working title of my next book is ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics & Law’ – See the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk.

https://www.lincolnsinn.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Recent-acquisitions-Apr-2025.pdf

This is where ‘Don Quixote’ was conceived and Cervantes began to write one of the greatest novels in Renaissance literature. His ‘impossible dream’ was created inside this prison cell!

https://lnkd.in/euQ4QzSH

‘Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra … 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world’s pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote, a work considered as the first modern novel. The novel has been labelled by many well-known authors as the “best book of all time” and the “best and most central work in world literature”.

Much of his life was spent in relative poverty and obscurity, which led to many of his early works being lost. Despite this, his influence and literary contribution are reflected by the fact that Spanish is often referred to as “the language of Cervantes”.

In 1569, Cervantes was forced to leave Spain and move to Rome, where he worked in the household of a cardinal. In 1570, he enlisted in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment, and was badly wounded at the Battle of Lepanto in October 1571 and lost the use of his left arm and hand. He served as a soldier until 1575, when he was captured by Barbary pirates; after five years in captivity, he was ransomed, and returned to Madrid.

His first significant novel, titled La Galatea, was published in 1585, but he continued to work as a purchasing agent, and later as a government tax collector. Part One of Don Quixote was published in 1605, and Part Two in 1615. Other works include the 12 Novelas ejemplares (Exemplary Novels); a long poem, the Viaje del Parnaso (Journey to Parnassus); and Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses (Eight Plays and Eight Interludes). The novel Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda), was published posthumously in 1616.

The cave of Medrano (also known as the casa de Medrano) in Argamasilla de Alba, which has been known since the beginning of the 17th century, and according to the tradition of Argamasilla de Alba, was the prison of Cervantes, [is] the place where he conceived and began to write Don Quixote.’ (Wikipedia).

For your Easter reading, if you have not read Don Quixote, I recommend the English translation by John Rutherford. In this masterpiece Cervantes experimented with various literary devices including humour.

Written during the Catholic ‘Inquisition’ in Spain, subtly woven into the fabic of what on the surface appears to be a comic story, is a profound moral tale, that resonates today.

For Cervantes, who was born into the ‘Golden’ era, when Spain dominated the world, experienced what it meant to be a citizen of the most powerful nation on earth, only to endure a lifetime of watching this ‘super-power’ fall and decline against the discontentment of its people.

https://lnkd.in/eJFz9Yid

In spite of the unimaginable hardships endured by Cervantes inside this prison cell – ‘Genius’ triumphed over Adversity.’

The result – a literary legacy for all mankind that has withstood the test of time and remains relevant today.

That is the power of imagination and words!

1st – Stop shouting at each other!

2nd – Listen.

3rd – Think.

4th – Talk to each other.

‘3RD PRINCIPLE – EMPATHETIC COMMUNICATION – LISTEN TO UNDERSTAND IN ORDER TO BE UNDERSTOOD.

The only way to get someone to do something is to make the other person want to do it. Remember that when dealing with people as opposed to machines, you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.
Instead of condemning MA2/P2, what you need to do is to try and understand them. Then, you can understand why they have behaved as they did. As MA1/P1, you must put yourself into the shoes of MA2/P2, in order to see things as they do, i.e. each MA must understand the ‘opposing’ point of view through the lens of the other MA/P. Since only unsatisfied needs can motivate, lower-level needs must be satisfied before higher-level needs can become motivators (see further, Maslow, AH (2022) A Theory of Human Motivation, Wilder Publications).

In the hierarchy of human needs, next to ‘physical survival’, the greatest need
of a human being is ‘psychological survival’, i.e. to be understood, affirmed,
validated, appreciated, and treated with respect and dignity.

“Appreciate their point of view. Understand it. It is very important to appreciate the way they see it. Even if you don’t agree, say that it merits serious consideration. Don’t say that they are wrong. Appreciate their self-esteem. Acknowledge that the other person has been heard. Be prepared to argue their case better than they can before you reply.”

(The late Professor Roger Fisher in a two-hour conversation with the author in his study at Harvard Law School during a research visit as a Scholar from King’s College London to Harvard University in April 2002).

When you listen to a person with empathy, you give them ‘psychological oxygen’. By affirming their vital psychological need for understanding and acknowledgement, you can then move forward by becoming partners in jointly solving a shared problem. When you listen with empathy you open yourself up to being influenced. Being open to influence is the key to influencing others. Just as you can now see a problem through the other P’s eyes, so can P2 see the problem through P1’s eyes. This opens the door to the creation of synergy by acknowledging, exploring and exploiting the interdependence paradigm, see ‘Hidden value’ above. Thus, when parties in dispute sincerely and deeply understand each other, then they can open a hidden door to creative settlement in mediation. That is because their ‘differences’ have been transformed from being obstacles to communication and progress, into ‘stepping-stones’ to synergy. In other words, the MAs can help their lay clients to set themselves free from the past, by working together to bring about a better future.’

[Extract about Mediation Advocacy from the 2nd Edition of the Contentious Probate Handbook (2025)].

The 2nd Edition of the ‘Contentious Probate Handbook’, is published in print by the Law Society of England and Wales. The Law is stated as at 1 September 2024. You can order the book using one of the following links:

– https://www.wildy.com/isbn/9781784462345/contentious-probate-handbook-practice-and-precedents-paperback-38-cd-rom-law-society-publishing. NB Wildy’s deliver worldwide.
– https://www.amazon.co.uk/Contentious-Probate-Handbook-Practice-Precedents/dp/1784462349
– https://bookshop.lawsociety.org.uk/p/contentious-probate-hand-2nd-edition-paperback

My next live Zoom webinar to be presented to members of the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates worldwide in 2025 is entitled ‘Mediation Advocacy in the Tax-Efficient Settlement of Inheritance Act, Beneficial Interest & Proprietary Estoppel Claims.’

This is provisionally scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday 20 November 2025.

The working title of my next book is ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics & Law’ – See the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk

In August 2026 I am also planning to launch a YouTube Channel – ‘Art and Civilization.’ See www.artandcivilization.tv.

I have obtained permission to change the title of my talk to members of the SCMA worldwide on 20 November 2025 to – ‘Mediation Advocacy in the Tax-Efficient Settlement of Inheritance Act, Beneficial Interest & Proprietary Estoppel Claims.’

The working title of my next book is ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics & Law’ – See the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk.

This will be written as both a multi-disciplinary academic course text book for Law Students, and as a handbook for Mediators and Mediation Advocates – globally. To view the current chapter structure, please visit the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk. I have already started work on the book, and will be able to devote all of my available free time to it, after I have written the article above. That is likely to be from September 2025 onwards.

In August 2026, I am also planning to launch a YouTube Channel – ‘Art and Civilization.’ For more information, Google – www.artandcivilization.tv.

Although the ‘Art and Civilization’ and ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ projects are personally very close to my heart, I felt that I had to close the circle of writing I have undertaken and talks I have given, over the last 4 years about Mediation and Mediation Advocacy (i.e. facilitated negotiation) in Trust and Estate Disputes, by tackling Mediation Advocacy in the principal forms of claim associated with Contentious Probate.

Inheritance Act, Beneficial Interest and Proprietary Estoppel Claims are not Contentious Probate Claims, but are often brought as part of a complex multiple, and sometimes ‘kitchen-sink’, claim scenario. Throw tax-efficient settlement into the negotiation mix, and the result is a series of practical challenges for both Mediators and Mediation Advocates about which, as far as I am aware, nobody has yet presented a talk.

So, be prepared to have both your eyes opened wide and your imagination stretched, because for the amateur and the unwary, both Mediation and Mediation Advocacy in these disputes, is potentially a mine-field. That of course is both a challenge and an opportunity!

My 8th book, the 2nd Edition of the Contentious Probate Handbook (2025), which was published by the Law Society last month, is now on display, and can be read, in all four Libraries of the Inns of Court – Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray’s Inn.

It is also available to read in the Library of the Law Society at Chancery Lane.

You can order the book using one of the following links:
– https://lnkd.in/dHtHQjBz. (NB Wildy’s deliver worldwide).
– https://lnkd.in/ejzMFjyn.
– https://lnkd.in/eQeZaqC8.

The book is also on sale at Waterstones and WH Smith.

My next live Zoom webinar to be presented to members of the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates worldwide in 2025 is entitled – ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics & Law.’

This is provisionally scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday 20 November 2025.

That is also the working title of my next book, which will be written as both a multi-disciplinary academic course textbook for Law Students, and as a handbook for Mediators and Mediation Advocates – globally. See the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk. Over the weekend, I started work on the ‘Ethics’ component of both the talk and the book. See also my post below – ‘Reframing International Law by adopting an intercivilizational” paradigm?’

If art is a window into the soul of a culture and ancient civilization, then you would expect there to be a coherent body of law known as the ‘International Law of Art and Civilization’. However, you will struggle to find a legal textbook about the subject, even though the subject-matter is as old as time.

There are books about International Cultural Heritage Law and Practice, whose disparate sources include:

·       International Law Treaties.
·       Jus Cogens (absolute) and Erga Omnes (universal) norms of International Law (including ‘inalienability of sovereignty’).
·       ‘Fiduciary Principles’ under International Law.
·       Museum Codes of Practice.
·       Ethical principles grounded in moral philosophy (including reparative justice, distributive justice and natural law).

However, ‘Rights and Civilizations – A History and Philosophy of International Law’ (2010), by Gustavo Gozzi (which was translated into English in 20I9) and published by Cambridge University Press, is one of the few books that traces the history of International Law, in order to explain how the West sought to justify its own ‘colonial’ conquests through an ideology that revolved around the idea of its own assumed ‘superiority’, thereby exposing the fallacy at the heart of International Law – that while the Western conception styles itself as being ‘universal’, it is in fact ‘relative’.

Since the emergence of a geopolitically ‘multipolar’/’multi-nodal’ world order and of ‘BRICS’, there has been an urgent need for an ‘intercivilizational’ approach to international law. This requires a dialogue about reform, between key stakeholders.

In my next book – ‘Mediation of International Cultural Heritage Disputes – Anachronism, Orientalism, Culture, Ethics & Law’, in the context of the Mediation of these disputes, I advocate the adoption by the participants, of an ‘intercivilizational’ approach to international law, as their ‘lodestar’.

In doing so, I explore whether the substantive issues in dispute that divide ‘state actors’ in these disputes, are in fact a potential source of convergence and consensus for their mutual benefit. To view the current chapter structure for the book, please visit the ‘International Cultural Heritage Disputes’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk.

I ask whether the adoption of an ‘intercivilizational’ paradigm to international law, is the key which can unlock the hidden door to the resolution of these seemingly intractable international disputes.

In other words, I wonder – ‘What is the potential power in the Mediation of an International Cultural Heritage Dispute, of reframing International Law by adopting an intercivilizational” paradigm?’

Online ordering links for book:

https://lnkd.in/dHtHQjBz [who deliver worldwide].
https://lnkd.in/ejzMFjyn
https://lnkd.in/eQeZaqC8

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has helped with the production of the book, and in particular:

·       Toby Graham of Farrer & Co: (https://lnkd.in/dW9wkHhN), who wrote the Foreword.
·       Hugh Series, a consultant in old age psychiatry at the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford, who wrote and kindly contributed Appendices A1 (‘Mental Disorders’) and A2 (‘Chronological tables in expert evidence’).
·       Ellen Radley BA PgDip (Law) MAE, a forensic document examiner at the Radley Forensic Document Laboratory (The Radley Forensic Document Laboratory Limited, Queens Meadow, Oakhurst, Grayshott, Hindhead, Surrey GU26 6JW www.docexam.co.uk) who wrote and kindly contributed Appendix A3 (‘Forensic examination of handwriting and questioned
documents’). Ellen is amongst the foremost international experts in forensic document examination.
·       My editors: Nia Cummings, Michelle Afford and Nicholas Catlin, for their eagle-eyed and rigorous diligence, and all of the team at Law Society Publishing, who made this book possible.

As Toby wrote in the Foreword:

‘The Law Society’s Probate Practitioner’s Handbook, now in its 9th edition, has become a popular and widely regarded resource. The continuing growth in the number of will disputes makes an equivalent resource dealing with will disputes essential reading for any practitioner. Carl Islam provides just such a treatment in the present Handbook, now in its 2nd edition, enabling busy practitioners to navigate all aspects of will disputes in eight practical, accessible, and authoritative chapters covering both law and practice at all stages, from preliminary steps
through to trial.’

This is my 8th book, see: https://lnkd.in/dX8CAUkm.

The Proposition – ‘While life can only be understood backwards, it must be lived forwards’ (Søren Aabye Kierkegaard). So, which is the most constructive, cost-efficient, and effective method of dispute resolution – Litigation or Mediation?’

Debate!

This is a great question for a panel of Arbitrators, retired Judges & Litigators v. a panel of Mediators & Mediation Advocates, globally, to debate, in an online contest of ideas and arguments about the merits of litigation v. mediation, as a constructive, cost-efficient, and effective method of dispute resolution.

Event organisers please note – as far as I am aware, this has never been done, ever, anywhere.

Which side do think would win, with a voting audience made up 100%, by parties in actual dispute?

Another way of framing this debating ‘Proposition’ is:

‘What is:

(i) the cost of litigation?

v.

(ii) the price of doing a deal?’

I discuss Mediation & Mediation Advocacy in detail in the ADR chapter of my new book, which is on schedule for publication on Monday 24 February 2025. It should be in Law book shops and also available for distribution by Amazon, by mid-March, if not before.

Pre-ordering Links:

– https://lnkd.in/dHtHQjBz [NB Wildy’s deliver worldwide].
– https://lnkd.in/ejzMFjyn.
– https://lnkd.in/eQeZaqC8.

For me, the critical difference, is that whereas in litigation, parties have to confront the events which gave rise to the dispute (i.e. to relive their past in public and in vivid technicolour in a courtroom), in Mediation they can in private, set themselves free from the past, by together, working out a better future for each and both of themselves, on terms that a court cannot devise and order.

There are of course other benefits of looking forwards, rather than backwards.

See also – https://lnkd.in/e5tcZv96

My next live Zoom webinar to be presented to members of the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates worldwide in 2025 is entitled – ‘Mediation Advocacy & Ethics in Claims for the Return of Ancient Art.’ This is provisionally scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday 20 November 2025.

The title of my next book is, ‘Culture & Ethics in the Mediation of Claims for the Return of Ancient Art.’ This will be written as both a multi-disciplinary academic course textbook for Law Students, and as a handbook for Mediators and Mediation Advocates – globally. See the ‘Claims for the Return of Ancient Art’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk.

To pre-order a copy of my new book, you can use one of the following links:

Law Society Bookshop – https://lnkd.in/eQeZaqC8

Wildy’s (who deliver worldwide) – https://lnkd.in/dHtHQjBz

Amazon – https://lnkd.in/ejzMFjyn

If you order from Amazon please provide a review.

‘While a lot has been written about mediation, mediation advocacy has been neglected, until now. This book goes a long way to filling that gap. It provides practical advice about how to become an effective mediation advocate from the author’s own rich experience as mediator and party representative. While its focus is on advocacy in trust and estate disputes, it has far wider appeal and relevance for mediation in other legal fields as well. It is an indispensable guide for lawyers who would like to expand their practice into the mediation space.’

(Barney Jordaan, LL.D (Stellenbosch University), Professor at Vlerick Business
School, Belgium, Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa, Negotiation and Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Internationally Accredited Mediator, and author of Negotiation And Dispute Resolution For Lawyers (2022), Edward Elgar Publishing).

My next live Zoom webinar to be presented to members of the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates worldwide in 2025 is entitled, ‘Mediation Advocacy & Ethics in Claims for the Return of Ancient Art.’ This is provisionally scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday 20 November 2025.

In July 2025 I am also planning to launch a YouTube Channel – ‘Art and Civilization.’ See www.artandcivilization.tv.

The title of my next book is, ‘Culture & Ethics in the Mediation of Claims for the Return of Ancient Art.’ This will be written as both a multi-disciplinary academic course textbook for Law Students, and as a handbook for Mediators and Mediation Advocates – globally. A leading publisher has contacted me to discuss publication, and I am planning to start work on this project in May. See the ‘Claims for the Return of Ancient Art’ page at www.carlislam.co.uk.

‘It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.’
Epictetus, Greek Stoic

When I watch the news in the morning, and after my jaw has dropped to the floor – instead of despairing about how humans behave, and the absence of ethical leadership nearly everywhere I look, I sometimes listen to ‘Westlin’ Winds’ by Robbie Burns. Perhaps it will also help you to maintain your focus and poise in these deeply troubling times, as the ‘paradigm’ or ‘lens’ through which you view an ‘event’, is as Robbie Burns shows in these lyrics, entirely your choice, i.e. under your control. Even if events around you are outside your control, in your mind you can choose to focus on a ‘positive paradigm’ instead of being ovewhelmed by a ‘negative’ and ‘destructive’ one.

See also: https://lnkd.in/eiJYcejn

Westlin’ Winds by Robbie Burns – https://lnkd.in/e3zSCxAd

‘Now westlin winds and slaughtering guns
Bring autumn’s pleasant weather
The moorcock springs on whirring wings
Among the blooming heather
Now waving grain, wild o’er the plain
Delights the weary farmer
And the moon shines bright as I rove at night
To muse upon my charmer.
The partridge loves the fruitful fells
The plover loves the mountains
The woodcock haunts the lonely dells
The soaring hern the fountains
Through lofty groves the cushat roves
The path of man to shun it
The hazel bush o’erhangs the thrush
The spreading thorn the linnet
Thus every kind their pleasure find
The savage and the tender
Some social join and leagues combine
Some solitary wander
Avaunt away! The cruel sway
Tyrannic man’s dominion
The sportsman’s joy, the murdering cry
The fluttering gory pinion
But Peggy dear, the evening’s clear
Thick files the skimming swallow
The sky is blue, the field’s in view
All fading green and yellow
Com let us stray our gladsome way
And view the charms of nature
The rustling corn, the fruited thorn
And every happy creature
We’ll gently walk and sweetly talk
Till the silent moon shines clearly
I’ll grasp thy waiste and, fondly pressed
Swear how I love thee dearly
Not vernal showers to budding flowers
Not autumn to the farmer
So dear can be as thou to me
My fair, and lovely charmer.’