Kluwer Mediation Blog

Apology, Community Mediation, Conflict, Developing the Field, Dialogue, Fear, Mediation and Society, Promoting Mediation, Understanding mediation

“I am a mediator,” I said. “What nonsense!” he answered. Why Mediators Need to Speak Up for What We Do

Greg Bond (Bond & Bond Mediation / University of Wildau )/October 24, 2019 /1 Comment

Mediators should speak up confidently for mediation. In this post I will consider some reasons why this might be difficult, and others why it is so necessary. It is not only that mediation is not sufficiently known. It can also be intimidating, and it is our job to explain it. Shortly after I had finished…

ADR, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Creativity, Dispute Resolution, Experience, Interests, lawyers in mediation, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediators’ Conduct, Negotiation, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Stages of mediation, Success in mediation, The role of the mediator

Brainstorming

Alan Limbury (Strategic Resolution)/October 22, 2019October 21, 2019 /1 Comment

Photo credit: Creative Commons Jean M.Mas 2/2007 Although my mediation training made no mention of it, 32 years of mediating have taught me that mediations generally unfold over two stages: Stage 1: “Who Did What to Whom”? Here parties (or their lawyers) follow the ritual of naming, blaming and claiming – recounting facts, providing evidence…

Cognitive Bias, Creativity, Decision making, Efficiency, History of mediation, Mistakes, Philosophy, Planning, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Reflective Practice, Settlement Agreements, Stories, The role of the mediator, Understanding mediation, War Stories

Three Feet from Agreement (Optimism in Mediation III)

Martin Svatoš (FORARB/Charles University)/October 20, 2019 /Leave a comment

At a certain point, when another offer was denied, one of the managers showed a real disappointment with the hard negotiation approach presented by the other party: “You know what?! I lost my patience. I will not sit here any further… I will ask my lawyer to finish the formalities and let’s see each other…

ADR, Commercial Mediation, cross-border mediation, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Future of mediation, International Mediation, Investor-state mediation, Mediation Practice

Is Investor-State Mediation An Emerging Practice? A Practitioner’s Perspective

Ting-Kwok IU (Kwok, Ng & Chan, Solicitors & Notaries)/October 16, 2019 /Leave a comment

I have recently been approached to enrol myself in an investor-state mediation training programme and also to speak at one of the sessions. That triggers off my deeper thoughts on the topic of investor-state mediation and related issues. This blog is an attempt to share my thoughts so that fellow mediation practitioners may consider whether…

Developing the Field, Personal Development, Reflective Practice, Young Mediators

The values of shadowing

Constantin-Adi Gavrila (ADR Center Romania) and Greg Wood (Greg Wood)/October 14, 2019 /Leave a comment

This post written by Greg Wood and Constantin Adi Gavrilă. Is about the values of shadowing based on our shadowing experience that allowed reflections and lessons learned, we’d like to share. Greg, a Los Angeles based mediator with special expertise in resolving intellectual property disputes, received a letter of thanks from a US. District Court…

Brexit, Europe, Negotiation, Uncategorized

The Brexit Negotiation: More irritators

Charlie Irvine (University of Strathclyde)/October 10, 2019 /2 Comments

O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae mony a blunder free us, An’ foolish notion. Robert Burns Those of us at the ‘Br’ end of the Brexit negotiation find it increasingly hard to know how others see us. Our media shovel up stories of…

Brexit, Causes of Conflict, Cognitive Bias, Impasse, Non-violent communication

Rebuilding Empathy in the UK

Charlie Woods (Core Solutions Group)/October 8, 2019October 4, 2019 /Leave a comment

In an increasingly turbulent and polarised world, where fear and anxiety are on the march and divide and rule is more in evidence, it is tempting to circle the waggons to keep those who disagree with us at bay. In this sort of environment differences are magnified, positions become entrenched, interests are overlooked and others…

Bias, Commercial Mediation

Impasse in Mediation

Rick Weiler (Weiler ADR Inc.)/October 6, 2019 /2 Comments

Why does impasse occur in mediation? In my experience as a commercial mediator, impasse most often flows from a combination of cognitive biases and flawed risk assessments. Cognitive Biases The human mind works in mysterious ways. Research in psychology and economic behaviour continues to uncover myriad ways in which the mind deviates from norms or…

Dispute Resolution, Mediation Practice, Mediators’ Conduct, Neutrality, Reflective Practice, Skills

Mediation And The Principle Of Emergence

Greg Rooney (Greg Rooney Mediator)/October 2, 2019October 1, 2019 /1 Comment

Charlie Irvine in his recent Kluwer blog (Mediation Values: Still Searching) suggested it is our values that determine what we do or say in a mediation rather than any techniques we learn as mediators. Charlie gives a mediation example where the husband wanted to claim his full pension as part of the division of assets….

ADR, Developing the Field, Georgia, Mediation Act, Singapore Convention on Mediation

We Have the Law! We Signed the Convention! What’s next?

Sophie Tkemaladze (Resolve / New Vision University)/September 30, 2019October 1, 2019 /2 Comments

Law of Georgia on Mediation was adopted by the Parliament of Georgia on September 18, 2019 with 93 votes in favor and 0 against. A little over a month before adoption of the Law, on August 7, Georgia signed the Singapore Mediation Convention, being one of few countries from the region, or even the continent,…