On 4 September 2010, Christchurch – gateway to New Zealand’s scenic South Island – suffered a major 7.1 earthquake and before it could recover a further 6.3 earthquake shook the city on 22 February 2011 killing 185 people and damaging well over one third of the buildings in the CBD and tens of thousands of…
[Author’s Note: I am grateful to Ms. Melissa Teo whose journal ruminations led me to the random thoughts that follow] I teach mediation skills at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law and it has always been something that I have found tremendously fulfilling. Apart from influencing generations of lawyers to consider the resolution…
It was with horror that I read Bill Marsh’s blog this week reporting on the shooting of parties to a mediation in Arizona – news of the event hadn’t crossed the Atlantic at that stage. One of my immediate reactions was to think – my God, the poor mediator. How do you deal with that?…
Recently, during a lull in the action in a tort mediation, I was drawn aside by an insurance representative I see frequently. He had concerns about my “style” as a mediator. “Every mediation it’s the same thing”, he said. “It’s almost like everyone knows where the case is going to settle in advance so why…
Over the past few weeks I have been following a discussion on LinkedIn around mediator certification which has been going on non-stop for no less than four months. The question of whether the regulation of mediators is good, bad or indifferent seems to go straight to the heart of issues surrounding our identity as mediators…
Professions (and hence professionals) are both blessed and cursed with high expectations. The upside is clear: the public expects high standards, expertise and care, and in return is prepared to pay handsomely. The downside typically involves disciplinary sanctions against those not measuring up to those standards, although issues of probity rather than competence tend to…
As you would expect, judges are appointed for their ability to adjudicate, often untested at the time of elevation to the Bench. Once appointed, many jurisdictions around the world then ask their judges to suspend their adjudication skills in favour of mediating controversies coming before the court, often in an effort to reduce backlogs. And it seems…
For students of South-East Asian political struggles (come on, you know you are out there!) last month marked an important landmark. The Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front signed an historic peace agreement intended to bring an end to 25 years of violent conflict. Of course, this is…
There is much discussion in Ireland at the moment on a proposed new piece of legislation on Mental Capacity. A 740-page Report on submissions to the relevant legislative committee was published yesterday , and though I have yet to even get through the introduction, I find myself wondering whether it might prove to be of…
I recall in the early days of mediation practice it seemed like one of the hardest interventions to make – to be standing in front of a room full of people and have to create a coherent whiteboard out of their discussion. The humble whiteboard has been used for every conceivable task in the mediation room –…
