Public Policy

Commercial Mediation, Deal Mediation, Dispute Resolution, Employment, Ethics, Europe, Family Mediation, Future of mediation, General, Governments/Public Sector, Greece, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), History of mediation, Interests, Ireland, Joint Sessions, Language, Lawyers, Legal Issues, mediation as a career, Mediation Lawyering, mediation models, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, mediation traditions, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediators’ Conduct, Memory and Illusions, Neuroscience, Nigeria, Particular Sectors (e.g. Construction, Banking, etc.), peace negotiations, Planning, Policy, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Public Policy, Reform, Scotland, Settlement Agreements, Skills, Sport, Stages of mediation, Standards, Success in mediation, Switzerland, Tactics, Transformation, Trust, UN and International Organizations, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation, Workplace

(Core Solutions Group)/ /1 Comment

I was all set to write about climate change and, more particularly, to reflect on some excellent writing on that subject which addresses so-called climate change sceptics or deniers. It seems to me that there is much to be learned about the motivations and psychology which affect such people and which can easily be read…

Causes of Conflict, Communication, Conflict, conlfict coaching, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, Decision making, Dispute Resolution, Efficiency, Europe, Future of mediation, General, Governments/Public Sector, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Improvisation, Interests, Mediation Practice, Memory and Illusions, Negotiation, Neuroscience, peace negotiations, Policy, Public Policy, Reform, Scotland, Skills, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /1 Comment

“The key to doing well lies not in overcoming others, but in eliciting their co-operation.” Robert Axelrod “Although negotiation takes place every day, it is not easy to do well. Standard strategies for negotiation often leave people dissatisfied, worn out or alienated…..” Roger Fisher and William Ury For probably the final time, I am writing…

Causes of Conflict, Conflict, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Public Policy, Scotland, Uncategorized

(University of Strathclyde)/ /7 Comments

Five days from now Scotland may be on its way to becoming the world’s newest country. Or it may not. Just over four million of us will vote on September 18th to determine future political arrangements on the British Isles (affecting some sixty million others). Depending on your point of view, you might say with…

Business, Developing the Field, Efficiency, Future of mediation, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), mediation as a career, Mediation Institutions and Rules, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), National Mediation Laws, Public Policy, Uncategorized

(University of Strathclyde)/ /Leave a comment

Czech Innovation: “Mediation Assistants” Fascinating visit to the Czech Republic recently. I was asked to provide the training for a group of ‘mediation assistants’. Never having heard the term before I was intrigued. I flew to Prague (stag-night capital of Europe) and after a reasonably terrifying drive through a rainstorm arrived in in Hradec Králové,…

ADR, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Court Procedure and Litigation, Developing the Field, Domestic Courts, Due Process, Efficiency, EU Directive on Mediation, EU Mediation Directive, Europe, European Law, Future of mediation, General, Governments/Public Sector, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), harmonisation of mediation law, International Mediation, Lawyers, Legislation, Litigation, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), Mediation Schemes (In Courts, etc.), Mediation Users/Clients, National Mediation Laws, Public Policy, Uncategorized

(ADR Center)/ /Leave a comment

The recent publication of a study conducted for the European Parliament on Mediation, “Rebooting the Mediation Directive,” has contributed to the ongoing debate about effective mediation policy. I am the coordinator of that Study, whose results were based on 816 questionnaires completed by respondents from the 28 member states of the EU. The Study determined…

Arbitration, Decision making, General, International Mediation, Med-Arb Clauses, Mediation Practice, Mediation Users/Clients, Policy, Public Policy, Reform, Settlement Agreements

(Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy)/ /1 Comment

How do you get people to eat more fruit and less junk food? How do you get more people to agree to donate their organs? How do you get more people to engage in cross-border mediation? I’ll come back to food and organs shortly. Let’s stay with mediation for a minute. Within Asia, Hong Kong,…

'Money-only' Cases, Costs in Mediation, Public Policy, Tactics

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /1 Comment

Should the conduct of a party in mediation be taken into account in setting cost consequences once the dispute has been adjudicated? An insurer has been “spanked” to the tune of $60,000 by an Ontario Court for failure to participate in a mediation in “any meaningful sense”. The cost decision of Mr. Justice Ramsay in…

Court Procedure and Litigation, Judges as mediators, Public Policy, Reform

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /Leave a comment

The Civil Justice system in Ontario is broken; badly broken. Not a week goes by without another report decrying the sad state of affairs in our Courts. Consider the article from the most recent Law Times entitled, “Lawyers frustrated as motion delays hit 7 months”. The articles quotes Roger Oatley, one of the deans of the…

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…