The Real Practice Systems (RPS) Project grew out of dissatisfaction with traditional mediation theories, which are incomplete and misleading. I first articulated RPS theory in my 2023 Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution article, Real Mediation Systems to Help Parties and Mediators Achieve Their Goals. It identifies problems with traditional mediation theories, argues that dispute system … Continue reading Real Practice Systems Project
It’s indisputable that preparation before mediation sessions is very important – both for the participants and the mediators. This can make a huge difference in the process and outcome. Parties (and their lawyers, if any) need to be prepared to discuss the facts, law, interests, and/or negotiation approaches etc. This is hard enough when they … Continue reading The Critical Importance of Pre-Session Preparation in Mediation
This post describes how mediators can use ideas and materials from the Real Practice Systems Project to better understand and improve their own mediation systems. Mediators’ practice systems are the combination of factors affecting what they do before, during, and after mediation sessions. These systems include their routine procedures and strategies for dealing with recurring … Continue reading Using Real Practice Systems Resources in Practice
This post describes how faculty can use ideas and materials from the Real Practice Systems Project to help students get realistic understandings of practice. I initially focused on mediation systems, which are the combination of factors affecting what mediators do before, during, and after mediation sessions. These systems include their routine procedures and strategies for … Continue reading Resources for Using Real Practice Systems Materials in Teaching
This short article presents accounts of ten mediators about the factors affecting how we handle continuing streams of mediations – our mediation systems. These systems are the combination of factors affecting what mediators do before, during, and after mediation sessions. The systems include their routine procedures and strategies for dealing with recurring challenging situations. The … Continue reading Ten Real Mediation Systems
I will present a draft of my article, Real Mediation Models to Help Parties and Mediators Achieve Their Goals, at the Works-in-Progress conference next month and I am posting it now so that you can read it before then if you like. People can attend the conference in person or by video – and I … Continue reading Would you like to read a WIP draft?
The news media have a well-known bad-news bias. If something bad is happening or – better yet – threatening to happen, the headlines scream of impending disaster. Good news, not so much coverage. If something good happens, including averted potential disasters, ho-hum. There is much less coverage and it’s much less prominent. Such was the … Continue reading Mediators Help Save the Economy
Mediation theory generally focuses on models of mediation procedures. While prescribed procedures obviously can be important factors affecting mediators’ behavior, traditional mediation theories are major oversimplifications that often don’t reflect the reality of how mediators actually think and act. Many mediators agree with this critique, but these theoretical concepts still are widely used without much … Continue reading Real Mediators’ Real Mediation Models
That’s the title of a program I recently did for the Association of Northern [England] Mediators. I began by describing why formal mediation models, such as the facilitative and evaluative models, are incomplete and often misleading. Mediators constantly must answer the question “What do I do now?”, and the formal models don’t help in most … Continue reading How You Can Build a Mediation Model to Optimize Your Own Cases
Peter Reilly’s call for updates on our scholarship prompted me to create the following lists of short articles and blog posts I wrote this year. You might want to read some or see if any would fit into your syllabi as required or recommended readings addressing your teaching goals. The following pieces focus directly on … Continue reading Short Pieces You Might Want to Read
