[Picture credit: creative commons]

[Picture credit: creative commons] Court cases not only determine issues between litigating parties, they provide guidance for others facing similar situations. For mediators and for disputants alike, they can help us identify and avoid difficulties we might not have previously contemplated. Here’s one example In Robert Samuel McCosh v David A R Williams [2003] NZCA 192,…

Recent blogs by Haris Meidanis on compulsory mediation in Greece prompt me to consider how lucky we are in Australia. Compulsion into mediation is common here. Outcomes are similar to voluntary mediation. It is sometimes argued that mandatory mediation is a contradiction in terms because mediation is “a voluntary process”. This view was adopted by…

(This post is being republished because of technical problems when it was first published) The recently reported Australian case of Ku-ring-gai Council v Ichor Constructions Pty Ltd [2018] NSWSC 610 (8 May 2018) provides a useful lesson in how not to conduct the hybrid Arb-Med-Arb process, from which (I hope) we might learn how to…

In Australia we have long experience of compulsory mediation prior to litigation in cases where a presumed power imbalance exists – such as retail tenancy and farm debt disputes. However, compulsory mediation by order of a court has been a controversial topic, particularly amongst judges, most of whom do not have actual mediation experience and…