Mediation is certainly featuring in the international news right now. This week Giuseppe De Palo posted an enthusiastic message about workplace conflict resolution. He congratulated the Office of the Ombudsman for UN Funds and Programmes as it prepares to establish a world-wide panel of mediators to make mediation “the first, natural step to take in…
Music and art make continuing and surprising contributions to Dispute Resolution. Greg Bond’s June Blog, written as a means of keeping his promise to write about the Beatles, shared lyrics that gave conflict a new voice. Synchronicity has been at work and suddenly the Beatles lyrics are getting a lot of exposure in the conflict…
Court cases are an important source of guidance for mediators, disputants and their lawyers. They remind us that the law casts a long shadow even when a mediation appears to have resolved successfully. They can rescue us – helping us identify and avoid previously unforeseen difficulties. Here’s an example Mr. and Mrs. Studer moved…
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…
Have you ever wondered who mediators are helping? The parties, obviously! Well, not so obvious to our critics. In this blog I consider worries about mediation’s approach to manifest injustice before making the case for understanding the mediator as co-creator, with the parties, of outcomes. I argue that co-creation enhances the prospects for justice. Stories…
Many jurisdictions have grappled with the extent to which their courts should get themselves involved in the mediation of litigated cases. Many different approaches have found favour around the globe, with diverse programs being implemented in courts from Hong Kong to Florida and places in between. Some courts are hands off while others are heavy handed…
The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was once asked why he continued to practice at the age of 90. “Because” he replied, “I think I’m making progress”. It is an extraordinary acknowledgement from a man widely regarded as one of the greatest ever cellists. Let’s be clear – Casals was a colossus in his world. Fritz…
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…
In his blog post on the 22nd of November, Kenny Aina referred to judges who mediate, commenting that many judges do not possess a mediator’s paradigm. To find out what that is, you will have to read Kenny’s blog. However, like it or not, many judges do mediate, both retired judges and active judges. In…
