Instinct

Bias, Communication, Conflict, Creativity, Decision making, Dialogue, Dispute Resolution, Economics, Ethics, Instinct, Language, Lawyers, Legal Practice, Mediation Lawyering, Neuroscience, Skills

(Core Solutions Group)/ /6 Comments

I recently attended the annual American Bar Association Dispute Resolution conference in San Francisco. Several themes emerged (for me) as fairly critical for modern lawyers. Here’s a top ten. Problem-Solving and Risk Analysis is more than learning about the law or what a court might do. Most issues which clients bring to lawyers are resolved…

Appointment of Mediators, Below the line, Bias, Clients, Future of mediation, General, Instinct, Intuition, Lawyers and Psychologists, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediators’ Conduct, Perception, Philosophy, Quality, Standards, Success in mediation

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /Leave a comment

How many of us share the experience I have had – sitting on the last train home, late at night, with a day’s mediating behind me and no settlement? Perhaps even no meaningful progress towards a settlement? Occasionally, no offers even made? And as you do so, perhaps you find that your thoughts veer from:…

Art, Buddhism, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, Da Vinci, Instinct, Mediation Practice, Philosophy

(Singapore International Mediation Institute)/ /Leave a comment
Young Mediators Initiative (YMI)

In the “Vitruvian Man” by Leonardo da Vinci, the great Italian artist explores the concept of symmetry and proportionality in the human body, and its implications on our understanding on the wider universe. Centuries on, we continue to be fascinated by the concept of finding beauty in symmetry. We look for it behind perfect ratios…

Causes of Conflict, Conflict, Developing the Field, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Instinct, Mediation Practice, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Tips, Training

(University of Strathclyde)/ /Leave a comment

“You cannot direct a living system; you can only disturb it”1 When mediators join a conflict, they enter a living system. Realise it or not, that system is instantly changed by their arrival. Change may be for the better, and we hope our influence is benign, but nothing is the same again. It therefore makes…

ADR, Appointment of Mediators, Arbitration, Clients, Cognitive Bias, Commercial Mediation, Court Procedure and Litigation, Efficiency, General, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Instinct, Litigation, Mediation Contract Clause, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Practice, Mediation Schemes (In Courts, etc.), Mediation Users/Clients, National Mediation Laws, Pre-arbitration Dispute Settlement Procedures

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /9 Comments

It’s not always easy to spot trends. But one that I have noticed over the last year or two is an increase in the number of cases I am being asked to mediate in which litigation or arbitration proceedings have not yet been issued. This produces different challenges. On the upside: • The parties have…

Accreditation, ADR, Communication, Dispute Resolution, Fear, Future of mediation, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Instinct, Mentoring, Social intelligence, Success in mediation, Young Mediators

(Lawyer, Mediator and Trainer in Conflict Resolution)/ /Leave a comment
Young Mediators Initiative (YMI)

I was twenty-five years old when I joined Young Mediators’ Initiative (YMI) and first participated at the Andalusian System for Labour Conflict Resolution (S.E.R.C.L.A) as an official mediator. At SERCLA, we normally have an average of ten people at the mediation table. Sometimes, not only am I by far the youngest person in the mediation…

Causes of Conflict, Conflict, Developing the Field, Instinct, mediation as a career, Mediation Practice, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Scotland, Skills, Tips, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation

(University of Strathclyde)/ /Leave a comment

(This is the final part of a keynote address to the YMCA Conference “From Reactions to Relations” in Burton on Trent on 20 November 2014.) Having considered what we can’t help noticing about our clients and about conflict I now turn to the tricky business of self-knowledge: what has our unique perspective at the heart…

Appointment of Mediators, Below the line, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Conflict, conlfict coaching, Conventional wisdom, Decision making, Future of mediation, General, Instinct, Interests, Lawyers, Mediation Lawyering, mediation models, Mediation Practice, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediators’ Conduct, Neutrality, Success in mediation, Uncategorized

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /8 Comments

Something is in the air at the moment. And it goes to the heart of what we mediators do. On the one hand, noted mediation thinkers such as Robert Bush and Joseph Folger write an empassioned challenge to the profession “Reclaiming Mediation’s Future: Getting Over the Intoxication of Expertise, Re-Focusing on Party Self-Determination”, arguing that…

Apology, Causes of Conflict, Clients, Communication, Conflict, General, Instinct, Language, Lawyers, Mediation Practice, Mediators’ Conduct, Mistakes, Neuroscience, Scotland, Stages of mediation, Stories, Time Pressure, Trust, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /3 Comments

It was just a few moments. “You can’t play on our course without proper golf shoes.” “But we played here two days ago in these shoes.” “My colleague must have made a mistake”. “But it was you who let us play…”. “It’s in our rules.” “Where?” “Here.” “No it’s not. There is nothing about soft…

Appointment of Mediators, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Cross-cultural, General, insider and outsider mediators, Instinct, International Mediation, Mediation Practice, mediation traditions, Mediation Users/Clients, Neutrality, peace negotiations, UN and International Organizations, Understanding mediation, War Stories

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /3 Comments

Recently my good friend Canon Andrew White (aka “the Vicar of Baghdad”, as he is the Anglican priest at St George’s Church, Baghdad) convened a meeting of religious certain leaders from Iraq and Israel, bringing together senior Iraqi Muslim and Israeli Jewish figures in Cyprus for several days of talks about peace. It was by…