Joint Sessions

Argument, Below the line, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Decision making, Dialogue, Experience, Framing, General, Joint Sessions, lawyers in mediation, mediation process, Mediators’ Conduct, Mistakes, Perception, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Tips, Uncategorized

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /8 Comments

Offers in mediation are too often approached with all the coyness of gauche teenagers at a school dance (acknowledging that this metaphor may reveal too much about my own youth!). It need not be like this. Here are some thoughts to ease the pain. Going first is not weakness. All mediations require offers to be…

Argument, Below the line, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Cooperation, Decision making, Dispute Resolution, Experience, Flexibility, Gender, Joint Sessions, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediation with Teams, Mindset, shuttle mediation, Trust, Uncategorized

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /8 Comments

Mediation can be an intense experience for parties and their advisers. Often there is a lot on the line. In the substance there may be money, control, reputation, pride. In the process, there are challenges such as influencing other parties, getting the best deal possible, making well-informed judgment calls about risk, developing effective offers, and…

Argument, Below the line, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Dialogue, Experts, Fear, General, Joint Sessions, Lawyers, lawyers in mediation, Legal Issues, Litigation, Mediation Lawyering, mediation process, Preparation, Tactics

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /4 Comments

This is the first in a short series of how parties and advisers can best deploy the “assets” at their disposal in a mediation. Naturally, it is written from my perspective as a mediator, and so I recognise that it may look different when you are representing one side in a mediation, rather than in…

'Money-only' Cases, Accreditation, ADR, Appointment of Mediators, Argument, Australia, caucus, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Conflict, Court Procedure and Litigation, Creativity, Dispute Resolution, Evaluative Mediation, Impasse, Interests, Joint Sessions, Judges as mediators, Lawyers, lawyers in mediation, Legal Issues, Litigation, mediated settlement agreement, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediators’ Conduct, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Preparation, Set Aside a Mediated Agreement, Settlement Agreements, shuttle mediation, Success in mediation, The role of the mediator, Time Pressure, Understanding mediation

(Strategic Resolution)/ /Leave a comment

  Court cases are an important source of guidance for mediators, disputants and their lawyers. They remind us that the law casts a long shadow even when a mediation appears to have resolved successfully. They can rescue us – helping us identify and avoid previously unforeseen difficulties. Here’s an example Mr. and Mrs. Studer moved…

Cognitive Bias, Communication, Community Mediation, Creativity, Dialogue, Joint Sessions, Mediation and Society, Philosophy, Teamwork, Uncategorized, user perspectives

(Core Solutions Group)/ /Leave a comment

Julian Baggini’s recently published book “How the world thinks” is a history of global philosophy, looking at how thinking has developed in different places and times. In the introduction he highlights the importance of not just seeing something from another’s perspective, but trying to see what they are seeing as well. As he puts it:…

Argument, Below the line, Bias, Brexit, caucus, Cognitive Bias, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, Decision making, Dialogue, Ethics, Fear, General, Impasse, Instinct, Interests, Intuition, Joint Sessions, Leaders, Leadership, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediators’ Conduct, Negotiation, Non-violent communication, Patience, Perception, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Reflective Practice, shuttle mediation, Skills, Status, Success in mediation, Tactics, Teamwork, The role of the mediator, Tips, Transformation

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /4 Comments

One of the privileges of mediating is to watch leaders at work. Every party, every team, has its leader(s). And as any mediator will tell you, the way in which they choose to lead during a mediation – and more widely during the conflict or dispute itself – has a significant impact on the outcome;…

Below the line, Conflict, conlfict coaching, Conventional wisdom, Framing, Joint Sessions, mediation traditions, Trust

(Brick Court Chambers / Clifton Chambers)/ /4 Comments

Pollyanna/pɒlɪˈanə/ noun/an excessively cheerful or optimistic person. “what I am saying makes me sound like some ageing Pollyanna who just wants to pretend that all is sweetness and light” Every mediator has been called a Pollyanna at some time or other, usually when encouraging those in conflict that resolution is just around the corner – and often in that…

ADR, Argument, Below the line, Brexit, caucus, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, cross-border mediation, Decision making, Dialogue, Fear, Impasse, Instinct, Intuition, Joint Sessions, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Middle East, Negotiation, peace negotiations, Perception, Practical Challenges for Mediators, shuttle mediation, Stories, Success in mediation, The role of the mediator, Trust, Violence

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /2 Comments

Bloomberg (not my usual reading fodder, I confess) carried an interesting piece a couple of months ago, entitled “Meet the Real Force Behind the Brexit Talks”. Yes, it was about Brexit (yawn) but it was about an unseen side of the negotiations. Opening with the line “In every negotiation the most important work is done…

Appointment of Mediators, Caucus, Commercial Mediation, Deal Mediation, Economics, Ethics, Future of mediation, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Improvisation, Joint Sessions, lawyers in mediation, Legal Practice, Mediation Practice, Philosophy, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Promoting Mediation, Public Policy, Quality, Reflective practise

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /9 Comments

Troubling trends observed as an Ontario commercial mediator compel me to once again take up my chiclet-keyed sabre. That the following are indeed trends in commercial mediation in Ontario is unsupported by any reliable data – because no one keeps track. No one records. It’s all anecdotal. Still, I’m now closing in on 30 years…

caucus, Commercial Mediation, Developing the Field, Experts, General, Joint Sessions, Lawyers, lawyers in mediation, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediation Users/Clients, Reflective practise, Scotland, Stages of mediation, The role of the mediator, Understanding mediation

(Core Solutions Group)/ /Leave a comment

Much has been said and written about the demise of the joint meeting in mediation. In my experience, such a view is premature and, I fear, is potentially wasteful of the power that mediation brings for creative problem-solving. I am also aware of how much the clients and others appreciate a creative approach to the…