What is the SIMC COVID-19 Protocol? The Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) has just launched the SIMC COVID-19 Protocol to provide businesses with an expedited, economical and effective route to resolve any international commercial disputes during the COVID-19 pandemic period. SIMC’s Covid-19 protocol is a great example of a leading mediation service provider reaching out…

Entering into a cathedral or court of law, before listening to the music, the words, or indeed before taking in very much at all, one is generally struck by the architecture of the building, the rising columns, the soaring roof, or just the sense of solemnity the place evokes. There was a reason they were…

Introduction “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” William James Whether as mediators, advisors or parties in dispute, we consider ourselves rational, open minded thinkers. We make decisions in an objective, non-biased fashion, don’t we? Sadly, not often. We are all susceptible to a swarm of cognitive…

Online courses have been around on the internet for decades now. You can learn almost everything you want online, and multiple online learning platforms such as Udemy, Skillshare, Coggno, or Skillwise give you an infinite choice of courses that you can take from the comfort of your home, when you want, and at your own…

Mediation can be an intense experience for parties and their advisers. Often there is a lot on the line. In the substance there may be money, control, reputation, pride. In the process, there are challenges such as influencing other parties, getting the best deal possible, making well-informed judgment calls about risk, developing effective offers, and…

Are agreements to mediate enforceable? The short (and incomplete) answer is: yes, they may be provided they are drafted appropriately. In this post we review a recent English judgment which sets outs guidelines for the enforceability of agreements to mediate under English law. In August 2019, the Technology and Construction Court of the Queen’s Bench…

The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“the New York Convention”) makes a huge contribution to the success of international arbitration by providing tools for global enforcement of arbitral awards. To that end, international mediation has been underused because of the lack of necessary international enforcement mechanisms of mediated settlement agreements….

Mediation: “The insertion of a human buffer between people who need assistance to interact with each other.” This definition speaks to the three core issues facing the mediator every time they enter a session. Human: to what degree does the mediator insert their own humanity into the process of mediation. Interact: to what degree does…

I am very glad to start today a 4 posts serie with my fellow Gustavo Carneiro, a lawyer and mediator who holds a Public Policy degree, analyzing the new brazilian General Data Protection Law, which will come into force in August 2020 and its application for ODR. Online Mediation and other ODR methods are getting…