As the principal buyers of mediation services,the site has been designed with law firms in mind. At the same time as soliciting profile details from mediators, we are signing up law firms to incorporate use of the site (non-exclusively) into their mediator selection process. Lawyers, as well as parties, will also be encouraged to leave feedback post-mediation.

We have two principal reasons for publishing the site: first, solicitors are demanding a single reference point as the market continues to fragment. Secondly, it is evident that the market is rife with misleading and potentially harmful rumours about mediators' skills, aptitudes and attributes. Confidentiality allows such rumours to go unchallenged. Our hope is that the site will encourage greater transparency in the profession with all its attendant benefits.

Matthew Rushton is the founder and publisher of bothThe Mediator Magazine and The Mediator Directory. He has been a legal correspondent on various titles over the last decade. In recent years he has written a biography of mediator David I Shapiro, and is one of a number of co-authors of a journalism text book (published New York, 2006) on writing for business publications.

As feedback accumulates, mediators will be able to point clients towards appointment-critical data which are:

• independently solicited
• independently verified
• 'on the record', and therefore traceable

The site will therefore offer:

• a chance to beauty parade on a significant number of disputes
• a presence among the entire market; not just a panel
• the chance to let your reputation speak for itself
• the equivalent to a word-of-mouth recommendation of your expertise

The site offers professionals a unique and valuable forum to exchange word-of-mouth recommendations on mediators. Clients (on the basis of service provider feedback) will be able to choose whether to appoint direct, or where a choice exists, through any of the service providers or panels of which mediators are a member.

At present no relationship exists between mediators' fees and the value they bring. The position is perpetuated by colossal oversupply of mediators. Until the market has sufficient information to be able to discriminate on quality rather than price, downward pressure on fees is inevitable. Putting information of the type collected by The Mediator Directory in the public domain will speed up the maturing of the market and bring forward the point in time when mediators' value is reflected in the fees they command.

Though unintended, the site also has potential to act as an informal, de facto regulator of the market. Some mediators find distant scrutiny of the type the site offers preferable to a more formal and intrusive system of regulation. Transparency and scrutiny will, we believe, significantly enhance confidence in mediators and in the process itself. Such confidence, we hope, will fuel mediation's wider use and society will reap the benefits with which all mediators are familiar.

There are numerous safeguards against factually inaccurate or unjustifiable feedback being left about you. First, in order to leave feedback users must register, which involves an email verification process. This means a) we know who they are and b) we can contact them. Secondly, feedback has to relate to a mediation on a specified date (the user's attendance can, if necessary, be verified with the mediator) and thirdly, all feedback is quarantined for a period of seven days until we, as publishers, have 'okayed' it for publication. Finally, the site is set up to email registered mediators every time feedback is left, so the mediator has seven days to make representations to the publishers if it appears factually inaccurate or unjustifiable.

We wish to emphasise that the purpose of the site is to publicise the particular skills, aptitudes and attributes of mediators. Accordingly, in order to leave negative feedback users will be required to confirm that criticisms have first been discussed with the mediator.

The names of all mediators are listed free of charge automatically, and feedback can be left about them whether they pay to embellish their profile or not. To add a photograph, contact details, a full CV, plus any articles which might assist in promoting your practice, the cost is £120 per annum.

Should you have any further queries, please contact Matthew Rushton on 08444 871 172. We hope you find the above convincing and warmly encourage you to visit the site and begin uploading publicity material.