Confidentiality

ADR Agreements, Confidentiality, Enforcement, Med-Arb Clauses, Mediation Agreement, Mediation Outcomes, Set Aside a Mediated Agreement, Settlement Agreements, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /Leave a comment

Earlier this month the Supreme Court of Canada issued its unanimous decision in Union Carbide Canada Inc. v. Bombardier Inc., 2014 SCC 35. The reasons of Mr. Justice Wagner deal with an unfortunate situation in which Bombardier, which had been suing Union Carbide for more than a decade seeking CAN$30 million  related to allegedly defective…

Apologies, Apology, Clients, Confidentiality, General, Ireland, Lawyers, Mediation Outcomes, Success in mediation

(Sabine Walsh Mediation)/ /Leave a comment

The last few weeks have seen a failure to apologise result in a political crisis, a senior police official being forced to resign, and our Minister for Justice’s already wobbly pedestal threaten to give way entirely beneath him. The coming weeks and months will tell whether the “Minister for Borrowed Time” as he has become…

Arbitration, Confidentiality, Court Procedure and Litigation, Enforcement, Med-Arb Clauses, Settlement Agreements

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /3 Comments

The recent Ontario Superior Court decision of Healy J. in Southlake Regional Health Centre v. Beswick Group Properties touches on a number of issues arising from settlement at mediation. Briefly, this was a landlord and tenant dispute relating to a Medical Arts Building and other development lands. The full factual background can be read by…

Below the line, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Confidentiality, Confidentiality and Transparency, conlfict coaching, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, Developing the Field, Ethics, Future of mediation, General, Instinct, Interests, Language, Lawyers, Mediation Lawyering, mediation models, Mediation Practice, Mistakes, Skills, Stages of mediation, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation, War Stories

(Brick Court Chambers / Clifton Chambers)/ /5 Comments

This is where I did my best work in Christmas week – in the twilight zone between the joint session room to the right of the water cooler and the private caucus room off to the left by the green bins. Corridors can be furtive and risky spaces on mediation days – ‘don’t ask me…

Confidentiality, Deal Mediation, Disclosure, Enforcement, Ethics, Mediation Agreement, Mediators’ Conduct, Uncategorized, War Stories

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /4 Comments

Its interesting to me that when you Google “lying” and “mediation” you are redirected to “lying” (as in lying down) and “meditation”. Recently my attention was drawn back to the old issue of deception in mediation. It’s an issue that mediators, lawyers and parties engaged in mediation or negotiation do well to reflect on from…

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, 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

(Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy)/ /Leave a comment

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, 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

(Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Accreditation, ADR, Appointment of Mediators, Availability of Mediators, Commercial Mediation, Confidentiality, Confidentiality and Transparency, Developing the Field, Ethics

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

We mediators need to market our wares, just like the fruiterer at my local Sunday Farmers’ Market when he calls out prices from behind his stall. Increasingly some mediators are choosing to do this by the numbers – advertising how many mediations they have completed and what level of success they have achieved. For instance, this…

ADR, Arbitration, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Confidentiality, Confidentiality and Transparency, Conventional wisdom, Court Procedure and Litigation, Developing the Field, Enforcement of a Mediation Clause, Ethics, EU Directive on Mediation, EU Mediation Directive, Future of mediation, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Legal Issues, Mediation Agreement, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Public Policy, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation

(University of Strathclyde)/ /5 Comments

To paraphrase Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that mediation is confidential. Go on any training course, listen to any mediator’s opening speech, and the secrecy/privacy of the process will be affirmed and reaffirmed. In the commercial mediation arena, and these days most other practice areas, you will also sign a contractual undertaking…