Savvy litigators often tell their clients that “a bad settlement always beats a good litigation”. That may be partly because there is embarrassingly scant guidance in the literature, or even in the world’s law schools, on how lawyers can help their clients settle well rather than badly. I recently had the honor of writing the…
Morton Deutsch, the great social psychologist of common sense, explained the difference between competition and cooperation thus: “if you’re positively linked with another, then you sink or swim together; with negative linkage, if the other sinks, you swim, and if the other swims, you sink.”[1]Cooperation and Competition. In M. Deutsch, P. T. Coleman, & E….
Last week the long-awaited Irish Mediation Bill was finally published. Its purpose is to introduce a coherent comprehensive regulatory framework for mediation in Ireland. For a number of reasons it is interesting also for international readers. The hitherto mediation regulations in Ireland were criticized not only by experts but also by the local judiciary. In…
“Life is a lottery and a lot of people lose but the winners, the grinners with money colour eyes eat all the nuggets and order extra fries” – Paul Simon, The Werewolf Lawyers who think their clients have ticked the ADR process box by saying their clients have tried ADR in their own negotiations without…
This post should be about trust and credibility, moreover when it comes for reasons to choose mediation. We recently received a request for mediation from a family that encountered difficulties in engaging with their new neighbours that bought the house next door. That city centre area is packed with houses close together that are left…
Despite some scepticism about the value of “roleplay” most mediation training involves asking people to run a pretend mediation session. I’ve tried various euphemisms to ease trainees’ anxiety – “skills practice”, “simulation”, “sitting with conflict” – but none seems to make it any less daunting. You can read about this activity, watch others do it,…
Recently, Dr. Grant Morris of Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand completed valuable research on the nature of private commercial mediation in New Zealand. The aim of the June 2016 research was to examine the commercial mediation market from a gatekeepers’ perspective – that inevitably meant lawyers were the main source of data. Commercial lawyers at…
“Mediation” in some Criminal Cases Recently (24th June 2015) a Judge of the Madras High Court (India) while hearing a bail appeal of a man convicted of raping a young girl, agreed to the bail request on condition that the man try “mediation” with the victim.[1]http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/madras-hc-gives-bail-to-rape-convict-to-mediate-with-victim/article1-1362173.aspx Mediation is aimed at marriage. “The case before us is…
Market resistance to the use of joint sessions is best illustrated by data from a survey of JAMS neutrals conducted in April 2015. 76% of JAMS’s 300-plus neutrals responded, and the data show both a decline in the use of joint sessions, and a clear discrepancy between East and West Coasts. 80% of neutrals surveyed…
