Since the coronavirus pandemic began, to get business done, attorneys and mediators alike have adapted to virtual conferences and virtual remote mediations via Zoom. While in-person mediations are optimal– a matter of personal preference– here are ten observations on
Bias, Diversity, and Inclusion: MCLE State Survey and Dispute Resolution
Many disputes at mediation arise out of the perceptions, misperceptions, or biases of one or more parties. How the legal advisor perceives these perceptions when the parties tell their side of the story directly impacts the subsequent advice to the…
No-Fly Zone: The Demand to Limit Future Client Representation
Settlement talks happen in and outside mediation and often are reduced to a Rule 11 Agreement. Settlement negotiations are typically related to the needs and interests of the client represented by counsel and limited to the case at hand. Sometimes…
Video in Appellate Opinion: An advance in Jurisprudential Communication
Mediation is only one way to reach an outcome where parties have control. The opposite is to let the court decide and then appeal. The outcome can be anything, and sometimes the courts are innovative in their approach. Here is…
The ADR Anachronism: Decoupling Arbitration and Mediation
The one-size-fits-all nomenclature, “alternative dispute resolution” (“ADR”) lumps together two vastly different dispute resolution processes: “arbitration” and “mediation.” If arbitration means “you decide for us,” mediation means “we work it out together.” The term ADR serves as the lexical umbrella that combines…
Mediation and Motivation: A Survey of Resolutional Circumstances
Mediation is often an opportunity for parties to a conflict to relate to and communicate with one another to move closer to resolution. While the ultimate goal is a total resolution, the incremental goal is positional movement and interpersonal understanding.…
Court-Ordered Mediation: Attend in Good Faith
The purpose of mediation is to bring parties closer together and ideally to reach an amicable solution and settlement. To achieve this result, the mediation is a facilitated conversation. Like any conversation, it takes both parties to engage each other.…
Cultural Diversity: Implicit and Explicit Bias at Mediation
Diversity and multiculturalism are inextricably intertwined into mediation. While disputes have legal facets, they are rooted in problems stemming from individuals themselves, in addition to the facts. Parties express positions, and an effective mediator needs to look for and recognize…
Fundamentals of the Constructive Mediation Joint Session
Joint session is an opportunity for the mediator to introduce the parties and counsel to the mediation process all in the same room. There, together, the mediator can then call upon the parties to, in an orderly way determined by…
Social Cause for Misperception of the Mediation Joint Session
Opening session is valuable and should be the default– except in family law matters. In determining whether to place the parties into the same room at the beginning of a mediation, there are several approaches: an opening joint session; a…