I have just recently received an arbitral award for a client that resolved a construction dispute which had arisen more than five years ago. Unfortunately, such time frame is not exceptional. Litigation would probably not have lasted any shorter. Construction disputes are usually complex and tend to involve stacks of documents. Such disputes often involve…

Our local mediator’s association here in the Northwest of Ireland recently ran a public seminar on mediation and the future of alternative dispute resolution. The two keynote speakers were two very distinguished lawyers, a High Court Judge and a Senior Barrister. As I looked around the room, it struck me just how many lawyers were…

In my capacity as a trainer and educator of mediators, I am frequently asked about entry into the mediation profession: “Once I pass my accreditation assessment, I want to become a full-time mediator…” The mediation training market continues to boom, confirming a continuing strong interest in mediation as a career path. However the supply of…

The term “ADR” is certainly familiar to not just those of us in the teaching and practice of mediation, but legal practitioners as well. In this post, I want to share some thoughts about the evolving nature of the “A” in ADR and how this is both reflective of the changes that have occurred in…

In a previous post I had noted the absence of better inter-connection between the ICC ADR Rules (available at http://www.iccwbo.org/court/adr/id4452/index.html) and the new ICC Arbitration Rules (available at http://www.iccwbo.org/court/arbitration/id4424/index.html) although the latter now open the door, at an early stage of the arbitration proceedings (i.e. the Case Management Conference: Art. 24 para. 1 of the…

The mediators are complex personalities. The mediators are part of the world-wide intellectual elite by promoting the purpose, the importance and the usefulness of the collaborative thinking in the pursuit of a vision founded on the quality of life. The mediators are helping people with cleaning the “dust of ignorance” off the human diamante, rediscovering…

I was pleased to read that this year’s ICC Competition went so well. Having hosted the UK Law Student Mediation Competition in Glasgow in November I was first-hand witness to the wholehearted, thoughtful way young mediators throw themselves into this work. They appear unaffected by the scepticism of older lawyers. All of this is very…

Imagine an e-mediator who can reframe parties’ feelings and overall mood based on their speech patterns as they talk into an ODR program. Imagine recreating the real-life intensity of emotional and social connections through an avatar in an online mediation setting. Imagine anonymous brainstorming, secret meetings in e-rooms and having access to a web-based intelligent…

This Decree establishes in the French Code of Civil Procedure a Chapter dedicated to the amicable resolution of disputes outside the Courts. Said Decree defines the rules applicable to each of the modes providing for amicable resolution of disputes. The Decree No. 2012-66 (the Decree) mainly enacts rules dealing with certain aspects of mediation in…