In his blog Mediator Blah…Blah, mediator (and barrister) Geoff Sharp posted an entry last month about an incident that occurred at a holiday party thrown by one of his clients. Among the blog responses he received was a suggestion that he ought not to have been attending a holiday party offered by a former client … Continue reading The Ethics of Mediators Who Party
Practical Ethics for Mediators in 2008? No, this is neither a prediction nor a demand. Rather, it is a new year’s wish on my part. A book with a title something roughly like that is slated to appear this coming year, I believe. And I look forward to it greatly. Conceived and edited by Professor … Continue reading Practical Ethics for Mediators in 2008?
The agency literature is filled with discussions of how best to structure compensation systems to promote the right incentives for people we hire to do things on our behalf. Embedded in most of it is an assumption that we can tell when someone is doing a good job. That’s not a bold assumption when I … Continue reading Evaluating Agents, Attorneys, Arbitrators, Mediators (and Students)
During the American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, we were introduced to the concept of the “embedded journalist.” Pentagon officials claimed that they were limiting journalists’ access in order to ensure their safety and protect secret military operations. These protestations likely were sincere, but Pentagon officials also must have been aware that “embedded journalists” were … Continue reading The Rise of the “Embedded Neutral?”
Do practicing mediators actually turn to conventional articulations of mediation ethical standards for guidance? So much ink has been spilled describing mediator standards, and so many hours have been devoted to parsing their every word, that some might hope the answer is “Yes, of course!” But I doubt busy mediators ever consult them. I personally … Continue reading Mediator Ethics … and What Actually Guides Us
Last week, I wondered aloud (or whatever the blog equivalent of “aloud” may be) why I had so few experiences in which mediation parties said “thank you” to each other upon arriving at a settlement. Geoff Sharp indicated that his experience in New Zealand was different—that he routinely sees parties thanking each other early and often … Continue reading Ongoing Relationships and the Perils of Gratitude
Long ago and far away, I was one of the people who successfully advocated for the institutionalization of ADR in a state court system. But based on research conducted by Professor Bobbi McAdoo and others, I got pretty discouraged about what non-family civil, court-connected mediation had become—dominated by lawyers and a legal-and-litigation focus, characterized almost … Continue reading Communities of Practice and the Continuing Evolution of Mediation
At the conclusion of a mediation I did some years ago, one of the parties did something weird. Really weird. They said “thank you” to the other side. Had these parties mid-read the standard mediation script? The other party was clearly taken aback, and I remember feeling almost awkward. “Thank you”?! They were “supposed” to … Continue reading Thanks-Giving in Mediation
Leonard Riskin and I have written an article that will appear in the summer issue of the George Mason Law Review. Because we are concerned that many mediation sessions are characterized by a narrow, law-and-litigation-oriented problem definition, the article proposes several mechanisms to encourage parties to choose the problem definition for their mediation. Do they … Continue reading Emotions and Problem Definition in Mediation
Fulbright and Jaworski’s recently-released Fourth Annual Litigation Trends Survey Findings include an intriguing snapshot regarding corporations’ use and views of their dispute resolution process options. The survey is based on responses from 305 participants—general counsel, associate general counsel, vice-presidents & general counsel, and deputy general counsel—who work for publicly and privately held companies in the … Continue reading Corporate Use and Perceptions of ADR and What It Could Suggest for Legal Education
