Practical Challenges for Mediators

Conciliation, Cross-cultural, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Future of mediation, Governments/Public Sector, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), International Law, International Mediation, mediation models, Mediation Practice, peace negotiations, Practical Challenges for Mediators, UN and International Organizations

(Corporate counsel & author)/ /1 Comment

This is the second in a series of postings written by Michael Leathes, Tina Monberg and Irena Vanenkova and Nadja Alexander. The first post appeared on the Kluwer Mediation Blog on 17 August. Yesterday we put forward our view that achieving the promise of mediation in conflicts that threaten the stability of societies and economies…

Bias, Causes of Conflict, mediation as a career, Mentoring, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Stories

(Sabine Walsh Mediation)/ /Leave a comment

“At these times”, said Dumbledore, indicating the stone basin, “I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one’s mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one’s leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form.” (From Harry Potter, by JK Rowling,…

Commercial Mediation, Confidentiality, Costs in Mediation, Court Procedure and Litigation, Deal Mediation, Decision making, Efficiency, Evaluative Mediation, Impasse, International Courts, International Mediation, Judges as mediators, Litigation, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Public Policy, Reform, Responsibility of States, UN and International Organizations

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /Leave a comment

Faithful readers will recall my posts here and here mentioning the failed mediation relating to the international effort to reach an agreement on the distribution of some $9 Billion in assets remaining from the Nortel insolvency. The Ontario Courts are now struggling with the fallout from that failed mediation. This week saw the release of…

'Money-only' Cases, Commercial Mediation, Deal Mediation, Efficiency, Impasse, Mediation Outcomes, Practical Challenges for Mediators

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /1 Comment

“They also serve, who only exchange offers.” A recent mediation experience serves to reinforce the value of patience in mediation – for the parties and for the mediator. The tort mediation, involving a single plaintiff and two insurers started at 10 am and concluded 8 hours and 15 minutes later. The following is the sequence of…

Communication, General, Improvisation, Language, Mediation Practice, Memory and Illusions, Neuroscience, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Skills

(National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law)/ /Leave a comment

[Author’s Warning: This entry involves references to and discussions about the system of Cartesian Coordinates and how it might assist mediators in reality testing and reframing. Readers with a Math Phobia are advised to proceed with cautious abandonment.] [Author’s postscript: As I finish writing this, it becomes increasingly clear to me that some readers may…

Clients, Family Mediation, Ireland, Mediation Practice, Mediation Users/Clients, Practical Challenges for Mediators

(Sabine Walsh Mediation)/ /Leave a comment

As Ireland again, or still, struggles with its socio-political identity, its legal and moral values, and the role of the Catholic church in all of this, it seems like only yesterday the debate raged about the constitutional referendum which, in 1996, introduced divorce and, with it, the right to remarry into Irish law. In the…

Commercial Mediation, Court Procedure and Litigation, Deal Mediation, Enforcement, Evaluative Mediation, Judges as mediators, Jurisdiction, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), Practical Challenges for Mediators, Uncategorized, War Stories

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /Leave a comment

In what I hope readers of this blog will consider a deft segue, I want to shift from the successful judicial mediation that I highlighted last month to one that didn’t proceed quite so smoothly. Deals negotiated in mediation tend to hold or, at least, that’s been the conventional wisdom. The theory is that because…

Bias, Causes of Conflict, Communication, General, Language, Mediation Practice, Memory and Illusions, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Skills

(National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law)/ /2 Comments

It is trite that one of key tasks of a mediator is to sort out what Patton, Stone and Heen in their book “Difficult Conversations” refer to as the “What Happened” conversation. Although they write about this and two other conversations in the context of negotiation, their insights are pertinent to mediators as well. One…

Bias, Conventional wisdom, Cross-cultural, General, Interests, Mediation Practice, Mediators’ Conduct, Practical Challenges for Mediators

(National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law)/ /Leave a comment

[Author’s Note: I am grateful to Ms. Melissa Teo whose journal ruminations led me to the random thoughts that follow] I teach mediation skills at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law and it has always been something that I have found tremendously fulfilling. Apart from influencing generations of lawyers to consider the resolution…

Book Review, Causes of Conflict, Civil rights, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Cross-cultural, Dispute Resolution, Governments/Public Sector, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), International Law, International Mediation, peace negotiations, Practical Challenges for Mediators, UN and International Organizations

(Brick Court Chambers / Clifton Chambers)/ /Leave a comment

Prior to Christmas I found myself in Jerusalem, Israel – the heart of the heart of the conflict of our time. Here, no one agrees on anything – even the monks from various Christian denominations (Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Catholics and others) responsible for The Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Christ was crucified, argue amongst…