Commercial Mediation

Commercial Mediation, Conventional wisdom, Evaluative Mediation, Future of mediation, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), mediation models, Mediation Practice

(University of Strathclyde)/ /3 Comments

Recently I have noticed mediators using a label to describe other people’s practice. It is rarely a compliment. That label is “evaluative”; as in “she takes rather an evaluative approach” or “his background as a lawyer leads him to be evaluative.” More subtly, “We are firmly committed to the facilitative model” (and, by implication, not…

Commercial Mediation, Confidentiality and Transparency, Costs in Mediation, Court Procedure and Litigation, Settlement Agreements

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /Leave a comment

As Ella Fitzgerald used to sing, Summertime and the livin’ is easy. Your faithful Canadian correspondent knows you are craving mediation-related reading to help you while away those lazy, crazy-hazy days of summer. Four recent Canadian judicial decisions should fill the bill. Supreme Court of Canada encourages Pierringer Agreements. In June the Supreme Court of…

Commercial Mediation, Due Process, General, Instinct, mediation models, Mediation Practice, Mediators’ Conduct, Negotiation, Stages of mediation

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /3 Comments

Here is a confession. I have a theory (in the best traditions of Monty Python). It is totally untested. I am pretty certain that it would not survive rigorous, double-blind trials. It may, however, contain some seeds of insight. My theory – wait for it – is that mediations where one or more of the…

'Money-only' Cases, Appointment of Mediators, Business, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Conventional wisdom, Due Process, Family Mediation, insider and outsider mediators, mediation as a career, mediation traditions, Skills, Stories

(Brick Court Chambers / Clifton Chambers)/ /Leave a comment

Not so long ago I was a claiming party as part of a group of plaintiffs in the stead of my elderly parents in a multiparty, multimillion dollar mediation. Now, I mediate around 120 mediations every year as a commercial mediator here in New Zealand so it was with a mix of personal apprehension and professional curiosity…

Accreditation, ADR, Appointment of Mediators, Arbitration, Commercial Mediation, Confidentiality and Transparency, Corporate Counsel's View, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), International Mediation

(Corporate counsel & author)/ /Leave a comment

Part 1 of this post touched on rumblings for more transparency in arbitration. But there is more than the distant sound of thunder, and it’s coming closer. As arbitration and mediation are both highly competitive and fragmented fields, it is hard for providers to act collectively. Yet they must. The only forums where arbitration organizations…

Commercial Mediation, Confidentiality, Costs in Mediation, Court Procedure and Litigation, Deal Mediation, Decision making, Efficiency, Evaluative Mediation, Impasse, International Courts, International Mediation, Judges as mediators, Litigation, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Public Policy, Reform, Responsibility of States, UN and International Organizations

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /Leave a comment

Faithful readers will recall my posts here and here mentioning the failed mediation relating to the international effort to reach an agreement on the distribution of some $9 Billion in assets remaining from the Nortel insolvency. The Ontario Courts are now struggling with the fallout from that failed mediation. This week saw the release of…

ADR, Arbitration, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Corporate Counsel's View, Dispute Resolution, General, India, Legal Issues

(Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy)/ /2 Comments

This month of May witnessed the launch of the India International ADR Association (IIADRA). And what a blast it was! Judicial luminaries, leading lights of the legal profession, business leaders and politicians all descending upon the gorgeous port city of Kochi on the southwestern Indian coast in the state of Kerala. At first glance Kochi…

'Money-only' Cases, Commercial Mediation, Deal Mediation, Efficiency, Impasse, Mediation Outcomes, Practical Challenges for Mediators

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /1 Comment

“They also serve, who only exchange offers.” A recent mediation experience serves to reinforce the value of patience in mediation – for the parties and for the mediator. The tort mediation, involving a single plaintiff and two insurers started at 10 am and concluded 8 hours and 15 minutes later. The following is the sequence of…

'Money-only' Cases, Appointment of Mediators, Availability of Mediators, Commercial Mediation, Conventional wisdom, Corporate Counsel's View, Dispute Resolution, Evaluative Mediation, Future of mediation, General, Instinct, Lawyers, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, mediation traditions, Skills, Surveys

(Brick Court Chambers / Clifton Chambers)/ /2 Comments

Most mediators I know graduated from the Facilitative School of Mediation – and we could spend much ink here debating exactly what that means but to my mind we were essentially taught to own the process and butt out of the outcome. Recently there have been a number of calls for mediators to do more – more what is…

Commercial Mediation, Court Procedure and Litigation, Deal Mediation, Enforcement, Evaluative Mediation, Judges as mediators, Jurisdiction, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), Practical Challenges for Mediators, Uncategorized, War Stories

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /Leave a comment

In what I hope readers of this blog will consider a deft segue, I want to shift from the successful judicial mediation that I highlighted last month to one that didn’t proceed quite so smoothly. Deals negotiated in mediation tend to hold or, at least, that’s been the conventional wisdom. The theory is that because…