Clients, Developing the Field, Experience, International commercial mediation, mediation as a career, Reflective practise, The role of the mediator, Understanding mediation, Young Mediators

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As the global mediation community anxiously awaits the annual ICC mediation competition to be held in Paris next week, many students from universities around the world will be putting the finishing touches to newly acquired mediation skills and all-important competition strategies. For my part, coming to Paris as a member of the competition faculty is…

Below the line, Conflict, conlfict coaching, Conventional wisdom, Framing, Joint Sessions, mediation traditions, Trust

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Pollyanna/pɒlɪˈanə/ noun/an excessively cheerful or optimistic person. “what I am saying makes me sound like some ageing Pollyanna who just wants to pretend that all is sweetness and light” Every mediator has been called a Pollyanna at some time or other, usually when encouraging those in conflict that resolution is just around the corner – and often in that…

Appointment of Mediators, Co-mediation, Commercial Mediation, cross-border mediation, Future of mediation, International commercial mediation, International Mediation, Uncategorized

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Having looked at The Rise of Co Mediation in Mega Mediations last month and the challenges such cases pose for mediators, let’s get a little closer to the inner workings of these mediations, especially at the intake stage. So many moving parts – the people, the paper, the posturing –  like a long haul plane sitting…

Appointment of Mediators, Co-mediation, Future of mediation

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With the rise of the mega case – often funded class actions – a unique challenge for mediation is emerging. It is just as Danny McFadden says in his recent post on China’s modern day silk road initiative Big Projects, Big Disputes – Bring in the Mediators; “mediation is a proven dispute resolution tool for…

Commercial Mediation, lawyers in mediation, Litigation, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Practice, mediation process

(Brick Court Chambers / Clifton Chambers)/ /9 Comments

As mediators, we spend much of our time contrasting mediation with, and distancing ourselves from, litigation. Before your eyes glaze over, that is not for this post. Instead, this post draws out one of the many similarities between mediation and litigation, especially when mediating a litigated case. Mediation has, some would say unfortunately, become a more…

Commercial Mediation, Costs in Mediation, Developing the Field, Third Party Funding

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This is the second in a series of two posts about third party funding (TPF) of litigation Geoff’s Part 1 looked at the principle of TPF. Now mediators Bill Marsh and Geoff Sharp get together to share thoughts on the impact TPF has on the mediation process Whatever else mediation is, it is certainly a…

Commercial Mediation, Conflict, Creativity, Decision making, International Mediation, Intuition, Language

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While I haven’t been to the ICC competition for a few years, I am so looking forward to attending in early February. Paris in the dead of winter is magical. Those lonely 6am starts from an empty and frigid Charles de Gaulle Étoile on Paris Métro Line 1 are a right of passage for any aspiring mediator….

'Money-only' Cases, Third Party Funding

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In the first of a two-part article, NZ/UK mediator Geoff Sharp looks at the development of third-party funding of litigation, arbitration and mediation in part 1 and later in part 2 Geoff and Bill Marsh will compare notes on how TPF impacts the mediation process Third party funding (TPF) of claims has been around for quite some…

Business, Corporate Counsel's View, Developing the Field, Future of mediation, lawyers in mediation, Legal Practice, mediation as a career, Surveys

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Recently, Dr. Grant Morris of Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand completed valuable research on the nature of private commercial mediation in New Zealand. The aim of the June 2016 research was to examine the commercial mediation market from a gatekeepers’ perspective – that inevitably meant lawyers were the main source of data. Commercial lawyers at…