Masood Ahmed

Masood Ahmed is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Leicester. He read law at the University of Cambridge (Sidney Sussex College) and completed his postgraduate diploma in legal practice at Cardiff University. He qualified as a solicitor at a leading international commercial law firm and practised commercial dispute resolution (litigation, arbitration and mediation) as well as undertaking commercial transactional work.

Masood's research focuses on civil procedure, civil justice systems and reform, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and international commercial arbitration. His research has been published in various international academic journals, including the Common Law World Review, Civil Justice Quarterly, King’s Law Journal, Lloyd’s Maritime Commercial Law Quarterly, Modern Law Review, Public Law, International Journal of Arbitration and the International Journal of Procedural Law. He is currently co-authoring the second edition of the leading textbook Arbitration of Commercial Disputes: International and English Law and Practice (Oxford University Press forthcoming 2025) and co-editing a book entitled The Place of Mediation within the Modern Civil Justice System: Critical Perspectives (Elgar forthcoming 2024). His impact case study Promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution within the Civil Justice System of England & Wales was selected for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021. The impact case study outlined how Masood's research has influenced civil justice/civil procedure reform, practice and procedure. 

He is the Alternative Dispute Resolution and Case Note Editor of the Civil Justice Quarterly, an editor of the Journal of Personal Injury Law and a commentator of the White Book (the leading text on the English Civil Procedure Rules). 

Masood has been involved in various major civil justice reform projects in England and Wales. He served two terms (6 years) as a member of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) and was involved in the implementation of a number of  reforms including the Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) system, reforms to the court rules on open justice and the Media & Communications Pre-action Protocol, and enhancing the role of ADR within the civil court process. He has also advised His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunal Service (HMCTS), the Ministry of Justice and the Law Society of England and Wales. Masood was appointed to review and evaluate a novel ADR procedure – the Professional Negligence Adjudication Scheme – and worked with senior judges (Mrs Justice Carr (now Lady Chief Justice Carr) and Mr Justice Fraser (now Lord Justice Fraser)) and leading practitioners. Following the publication of his recommendations, the Adjudication Scheme was successfully implemented. 

Masood is currently a member of Civil Justice Council (CJC)'s Pre-action Protocol Main Working Party which is advising the Master of the Rolls on the future role and reform of the protocols.  He is also a member of the Law Society’s Dispute Resolution Committee and has advised the Law Society on various aspects of its 21st Century Justice Project.  

He is a Research Fellow on the ‘Affordable Access to Justice’ project at the Erasmus University (Netherlands) and one of the lead researchers on the European Law Institute (ELI) project ‘Ditigitalisation of the Civil Courts.’

Books

(with A. Tweeddale) Arbitration of Commercial Disputes: International and English Law and Practice (Oxford University Press) forthcoming 2025

(ed. with D. Sixsmith)The Place of Mediation within the Modern Civil Justice System: Critical Perspectives (Elgar) forthcoming 2024.

Articles (selected)

M. Ahmed 'Digitalisation, Pre-action Protocols, ADR and the Business & Property Courts of England and Wales' forthcoming (10,000 words)

M. Ahmed, N. Kyriakides and Y. Zentani 'The Place of Alternative Dispute Resolution in the New Cypriot Civil Justice System' (2024) International Journal of Procedural Law (13,000 words) forthcoming.

M. Ahmed 'Fixed Recoverable Costs, Vulnerability and Access to Justice' (2024) Journal of Personal Injury law (9,000 words) forthcoming. 

M. Ahmed ‘A critical review of the Official Injury Claims service’ (2023) 2 Journal of Personal Injury Law 130-141.

M. Ahmed ‘Formulating a more principled approach to ADR within the English civil justice system’ in X. Kramer, J. Hoevenaars & E. Themeli (ed.) Frontiers in Civil Justice: Privatisation, Monetisation and Digitisation (Elgar 2022) 4.

M. Ahmed ‘The alternative dispute resolution duty of public bodies in the English civil justice system’ (2022) 1 Public Law 95-114.

M. Ahmed & X. Kramer 'Global Developments and Challenges in Costs and Funding of Civil Justice' (2021) 4 Erasmus Law Review 181-188

M. Ahmed ‘The London Fire Court ADR and the English Contemporary Civil Court Process’ (2021) 40(4) Civil Justice Quarterly 263-280.

M. Ahmed 'Taking evidence from non-parties in international commercial arbitration' (2021) 24(1) International Arbitration Law Review 57-62. 

M. Ahmed 'Setting aside court orders before sealing and the principle of finality' (2021) 40(3) Civil Justice Quarterly 169-175.

M. Ahmed 'Revisiting hybrid damages-based agreements' (2022) 1 Journal of Personal Injury Law  33-42.

M. Ahmed 'Changing experts and the courts' jurisdiction' (2021) 37(6) Construction Law Journal 330-334.

M. Ahmed ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution During the Covid-19 Crisis and Beyond’ King’s Law Journal 32(1) 147-156.

M. Ahmed ‘Critical Reflections on the Proposal for a Mediation Act for Scotland’ (2020) 83(3) Modern Law Review 614-636.

M. Ahmed 'The suspension of arbitral awards on enforcement and the territoriality theory' (2020) Lloyd's Maritime & Commercial Law Quarterly 372-378.

M. Ahmed 'Th pre-action protocols are a significant procedural aspect of the English civil justice system but reform is required' (2020) 39(3) Civil Justice Quarterly 193-202.

M. Ahmed & F. Arslan 'Compelling parties to judicial early neutral evaluation but a missed opportunity for mediation' (2020) 39(1) Civil Justice Quarterly 1-11.  

M. Ahmed 'Moving on from a judicial preference for mediation to embed appropriate dispute resolution' (2019) 70(3) Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 331-154.

M. Ahmed 'A Critical Review of the Business & Property Courts of England and Wales' in X. Kramer and J. Sorabji (ed.) International Business Courts - A European and Global Perspective (Eleven International Publishing) 2019 21-43.

M. Ahmed 'Critical Reflections on the UNCITRAL Convention on the Enforcement of Mediation Settlement Agreements' (2019) Lloyd's Maritime & Commercial Law Quarterly 259-270.

M. Ahmed 'A Novel ADR Procedure for Professional Negligence Disputes' (2019) 35(1) Journal of Professional Negligence 54-70.

M. Ahmed 'After the event insurance and access to justice' (2018) 34(2) Journal of Professional Negligence 91-95.

M. Ahmed 'Procedural rules and judicial discretion' (2018) 37(2) Civil Justice Quarterly 149-160.

M. Ahmed 'Mediation: the need for a united, clear and consistent judicial voice' (2018) 37(1) Civil Justice Quarterly 13-19.

M. Ahmed 'An investigation into the nature and role of non-settled ADR' (2017) 7(2) International Journal of Procedural Law 216-249.

M. Ahmed 'A critical view of stage 1 of the online court' (2017) 36(1) Civil Justice Quarterly 12-22.

M. Ahmed (with Prof B. Billingsley) ‘Evolution Revolution & Culture Shift: A Critical Analysis of Compulsory ADR in England and Canada’ (2016) 45(2) Common Law World Review 186-213.

M. Ahmed 'The merits factor in assessing an unreasonable refusal of ADR: a critique and a proposal' (2016) 8 Journal of Business Law 646-669.

M. Ahmed 'Procedural non-compliance and relief from sanctions after the Jackson reforms; striking the balance' (2015) 5(1) International Journal of Procedural Law 71-95.

M. Ahmed 'Bridging the gap between alternative dispute resolution and robust adverse costs orders' (2015) 66(1) Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 71-92.

M. Ahmed 'Loosening the grip of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 on arbitration agreements' (2014) 31(5) Journal of International Arbitration 515-539.

M. Ahmed 'Silence in the face of invitations to mediate' (2014) 73(1) Cambridge Law Journal 35-37.

M. Ahmed 'Judicial rule interpretation, retrospective orders and service outside jurisdiction' (2014) 33(1) Civil Justice Quarterly 18-23.

M. Ahmed 'An alternative approach to repealing the general pre-action protocol' (2013) 32(2) Civil Justice Quarterly 256-274. 

M. Ahmed 'Implied Compulsory Mediation' (2012) 31(2) Civil Justice Quarterly 151-175.

M. Ahmed & H. Yu 'The new French arbitration law: an analysis' (2012) 15(1) International Arbitration Law Review 20-29.

M. Ahmed 'Arbitration clauses: fairness, justice and commercial certainty' (2010) 26(3) Arbitration International 409-419.

M. Ahmed 'Settlement in international arbitration: comments on the CEDR settlement rules (2010) 76(2) Arbitration 269-276.

M. Ahmed 'Protecting the without prejudice rule' (2009) 28(4) Civil Justice Quarterly 467-469. 

• Civil Justice Systems and Reform;
• Civil Procedure;
• Access to Civil Justice;
• The Civil Court Process;
• Alternative Dispute Resolution;
• International Commercial Arbitration.

• Dispute Resolution;
• Civil Dispute Resolution Methods;
• International Commercial Arbitration;
• Analysing Law (including Civil Procedure and ADR).

• Civil justice reforms;
• civil court reforms;
• access to justice;
• litigants in person and access to justice;
• civil procedure;
• alternative dispute resolution (mediation);
• international commercial arbitration.

Selected:

• Civil Justice Reforms and Compulsory ADR - Newcastle Law School, Newcastle University, 2022

• The rise of International Commercial Courts and Arbitration - Building EU Civil Justice, Erasmus University 2021

• A more principled approach to compulsory ADR within the English civil justice system - Frontiers of Civil Justice Erasmus Law School Erasmus University Netherlands 2020

• ADR and Public Bodies - SLSA Conference University of Leeds 2019

• The Professional Negligence Adjudication Scheme - Professional Negligence Bar Association 2019

• Civil Justice Reforms - Law Society Roundtable London 2019

• Judicial Approaches to ADR within the Civil Court Process - Civil Mediation Council Conference 2017

• BA/MA (Law) - Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge
• PG Dip. - Cardiff University
• PG Cert Ed. - Birmingham City University
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy