Causes of Conflict

Business, Causes of Conflict, Commercial Mediation, Conventional wisdom, Corporate Counsel's View, Costs in Mediation, Cross-cultural, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, General, Mediation Users/Clients, Singapore, Stories, Success in mediation, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation

(National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law)/ /Leave a comment

The Singapore Mediation Lecture 2014 was delivered on 26 September 2014 by Mr. Brad Berenson, the Vice President and Senior Counsel for Litigation and Legal Policy of General Electric. The third lecture in this series, the Singapore Mediation Lecture is a result of a partnership between the Singapore Mediation Centre, the Singapore Management University School…

Causes of Conflict, Conflict, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Public Policy, Scotland, Uncategorized

(University of Strathclyde)/ /7 Comments

Five days from now Scotland may be on its way to becoming the world’s newest country. Or it may not. Just over four million of us will vote on September 18th to determine future political arrangements on the British Isles (affecting some sixty million others). Depending on your point of view, you might say with…

Apology, Causes of Conflict, Clients, Communication, Conflict, General, Instinct, Language, Lawyers, Mediation Practice, Mediators’ Conduct, Mistakes, Neuroscience, Scotland, Stages of mediation, Stories, Time Pressure, Trust, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /3 Comments

It was just a few moments. “You can’t play on our course without proper golf shoes.” “But we played here two days ago in these shoes.” “My colleague must have made a mistake”. “But it was you who let us play…”. “It’s in our rules.” “Where?” “Here.” “No it’s not. There is nothing about soft…

Book Review, Causes of Conflict, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Community Mediation, Conflict, Creativity, Decision making, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Efficiency, Ethics, General, Language, Lawyers, Mediation Practice, Mediators’ Conduct, Negotiation, Policy, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Scotland, Skills, Success in mediation, Tips, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /Leave a comment

I am interested in convergence – of ideas, of behaviour, of trends, of different disciplines. The more I read, the more common themes I discern in the arts, science, spirituality, leadership and in what we do as mediators. A reflection of this is found in the African concept of ubuntu, “the profound sense that we…

Causes of Conflict, Conflict, crisis negotiatons, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, General, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Hong Kong, Mediation Practice, Negotiation, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Skills, Social intelligence, Tactics, Time Pressure

(Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy)/ /Leave a comment

Next week I am going to interview one of Hong Kong’s leading police negotiators, Dr Gilbert Wong, Commanding Officer of the Police Negotiation Cadre (PNC). When I first emailed with Gilbert, I was struck by the signature line of his email: “Who Cares Wins”. While it could be a mediator’s tagline, it is in fact,…

Causes of Conflict, Commercial Mediation, Conventional wisdom, Humorous Pieces, Stories, Tactics, Uncategorized

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /3 Comments

Story telling and humor are among the essential tools in any mediator’s kit. Of course, when it comes to humor, mediators learn early in their career that the self-deprecating variety is usually the safest choice. This turns out to be quite good for me since in my life there is no shortage of material to…

Availability of Mediators, Causes of Conflict, Civil rights, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, General, History of mediation, Impasse, Instinct, Mediation Practice, mediation traditions

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /7 Comments

My December blog was centred around a 15th Century occurrence. This month, I am in the final two years of the 14th Century. Last night, I went to see Shakespeare’s Richard II at the Barbican Theatre in London. The title role was played (quite brilliantly) by David Tennant – a piece of trivia for all…

ADR Clauses, Business, Causes of Conflict, Combined Clauses

(Brick Court Chambers / Clifton Chambers)/ /2 Comments

I don’t mean to argue against the undeniable wisdom of inserting a dispute resolution clause in a commercial contract at the drafting stage. Conventional wisdom says settle your disputes as early as possible – like bubbles off the ocean floor, conflict expands as it rises to the surface and finally explodes into the air. What’s not…

Causes of Conflict, Conflict, General, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Transformation

(National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law)/ /3 Comments

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Tan Pan [谈判 means “Negotiation” in mandarin] Symposium held in Hong Kong from 1-2 November 2013. This was organized by the International Institute for Conflict Engagement and Resolution (IICER) of the Hong Kong Shue Yan University. This symposium saw the launch of the Tan Pan Journal and…

'Money-only' Cases, Apologies, Apology, Causes of Conflict, Commercial Mediation, Communication, General, Interests, mediation models, Mediation Practice, Mediation Users/Clients, Settlement Agreements, Skills

(Brick Court Chambers / Clifton Chambers)/ /Leave a comment

This week I spoke to a group of young legal practitioners here in New Zealand. I aimed low and went back to source. I suspect I got more of a kick out of it than anyone at the session. So, mediators, look away. There is nothing new here. But users, occasional or repeat, I hope these three…