ADR, Appointment of Mediators, Arbitration, Confidentiality, Dispute Resolution, Due Process, General, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Hong Kong, International Mediation, Legal Issues, Legal Practice, Legislation, Med-Arb Clauses, Mediation Practice, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), Pre-arbitration Dispute Settlement Procedures, Regulation

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In a previous posting I looked at Hong Kong’s new Mediation Ordinance, which came into force on 1 January 2013. This legislative activity comes hot on the heels of a major revision of the Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance which came into effect in 2011. Given the increasing interest in multi-tiered dispute resolution (MDR) processes such…

Accreditation, ADR, Cross-cultural, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, General, Hong Kong, Jurisdiction, Legal Issues, Legislation, mediation as a career, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), Mediation Schemes (In Courts, etc.), Standards, Training

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Well, the New Year is a time for reflections, making new resolutions and fresh starts. In Hong Kong the 1st of January 2013 saw a fresh start for the mediation regulatory regime with the coming into force of the Mediation Ordinance (MO), which I wrote about last month. But it’s not just the MO, which…

Accreditation, ADR, ADR Agreements, Commercial Mediation, Confidentiality, Confidentiality and Transparency, Dispute Resolution, Future of mediation, General, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Hong Kong, Legal Issues, Legal Practice, Legislation, Mediation Act, Mediation Practice, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), National Mediation Laws, Reform, Regulation, Standards

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In June 2012 the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the Mediation Ordinance (MO), the first piece of legislation on mediation in Hong Kong SAR. The MO was a much awaited and highly anticipated law and some mediation advocates have been disappointed in what they see as much ado about nothing. After all the MO appears…

Clients, Communication, Conflict, conlfict coaching, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Intuition, Mediation Practice, Negotiation, Planning, Skills

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In this posting I want to reflect on how, as a mediator, I’ve learnt much from the related but independent conflict management process, called conflict coaching. Before I get ahead of myself, however, let me start by offering an explanation of conflict coaching. Conflict coaching is a service provided by a conflict specialist to a…

Conventional wisdom, Cross-cultural, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Ethics, General, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), insider and outsider mediators, mediation models, Mediation Practice, mediation traditions, omnipartiality in mediation

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Geoff Sharp’s recent blog posting, Biased is better and Partiality is In, challenges the conventional mediation wisdom that views impartiality and neutrality as hallmarks of the mediation process. Here impartiality refers to a disinterestedness in the outcome of the dispute and the absence of real and perceived conflicts of interest in relation to the matter….

ADR, Creativity, Cross-cultural, Developing the Field, General, Stories

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One year ago, on the 1 September 2012, The Kluwer Mediation Blog was launched with an inaugural posting by the then Minister for Justice in Slovenia, Ales Zalar. Right from the start, Ales challenged readers by offering fresh thinking about political applications of mediation: “Mediation stands for more democracy, which we all need, because it…

ADR, Business, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Conventional wisdom, Decision making, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, General, Interests, Lawyers, Lawyers and Psychologists, Legal Practice, Negotiation, Neuroscience, Skills, Uncategorized

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Mediators often talk about the power of framing their own language and reframing the language of parties and others in mediation settings. For example, mediators may frame their comments in neutral, constructive and future-focused language. They may reframe party statements to detoxify offensive or destructive language or to create a shift from the negative to…

ADR, Causes of Conflict, Conciliation, Conflict, Decision making, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Neuroscience, Skills

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In this post I want to talk about an important thread that is emerging in the science of the twenty-first century. It is the finding that we are all interconnected, that we are porous beings with the ability to influence not only ourselves but one another in ways not previously contemplated. What we previously knew…

ADR, Communication, Conflict, Dispute Resolution, General, Skills, Training

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It is often said that listening is one of a mediator’s core skills. At the same time the parties’ ability to listen to each other is equally important. Where parties’ communication has broken down to such an extent that they are unable to really hear what each other is saying, mediators can step in and…

Court Procedure and Litigation, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, General, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Lawyers, Legal Issues, Legal Practice, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Practice, Negotiation

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It is a fact of life that lawyers will be involved in many mediations, particularly where they involve litigation matters. Despite initial reluctance to embrace mediation, the tide is turning as Sabine Walsh explains in her posting, Of Turkeys and Christmas – The Role of Lawyers in Mediation. A specialised form of legal practice is…