The evolution of society, its population growth and the consequent increasing complexity as to relationships made it necessary that the natural right to justice become a right guaranteed by the State. That came about due to the fact man used to make justice himself using physical violence and imposing his own interests. Access to Justice…

Years ago, I participated in a Richard Salem led mediation skills acquisition training for retired Judges and I will never forget the words of a just retired Chief Judge contemplating a career in mediation “ Kenny, you mean I will just listen without telling the parties what to do? Impossible! Not me!”. I have seen…

The Situation: Your adversary is attacking your case in the mediation in such a manner that good faith negotiations seem like a distant cousin to all out war. You are looking for a way to recover. You don’t want to walk out of the room, but you are running out of options and the negotiation…

One of the privileges and perils of working as a mediator in Scotland is that we get a close-up view of developments in England and Wales. In an ideal world this should allow us (pop. 5 million) to learn from them (pop. 55 million): to pick the best innovations and avoid the failures. As I…

Hong Kong is the global city of designer ‘labels’ as even the most reluctant of shoppers cannot fail to observe. It is also the city of fakes – fakes with labels and fakes without labels – and the place where the ‘No Fake’ label and the ‘No Label’ label thrive! Confused? Well don’t worry, Hong…

While the world becomes ever faster-paced, litigating business disputes are unchangeably slow. The recently published World Bank’s “Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World” report shows that state court procedures in most countries remain lengthy, costly and complicated. Although this is not good news for anyone, as a side effect, the flaws…

What is Collaborative Law and Practice? Collaborative Law is a mode of dispute settlement, mainly used in family disputes (divorce, separation) and sometimes in civil matters (inheritance, commercial disputes), allowing the disputants to work as a team with trained professionals to resolve disputes respectfully without going to court. The Minnesota (USA) family lawyer Stu Webb…

The importance of the multidisciplinary approach and the leading role of the parts. Modernity brought about the fragmentation of knowledge and the emergence of different disciplines as well as diversified specializations in several subject areas. This fragmentation enabled people to deepen their knowledge concerning specific issues and made them feel that they could master their…

This post is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs (1955-2011) [Author’s note: I had in mind another subject for this blog post. I was however moved to write this one. It seems fitting that I am writing it on my Mac Book Air.] 5 October 2011 was a sad day. It saw the passing…

Scotland sits on the north-west fringe of Europe, and is probably best known for whisky, rain and heroic failure on football and rugby pitches. While part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, many people don’t realise it has its own legal system. And why should they? Even English publications often talk…