accreditations & partnerships
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The way you react to the unexpected can make all the difference in a mediation. It’s the document that you did not expect to see or the person who turns up who you haven’t been told about that causes the greatest fuss.
As mediators, we often find ourselves helping parties to reframe offers in ways which are more likely to be palatable to the other party, based on our privileged knowledge of attitudes, needs and interests in the other room. Party representatives would do well to make good use of the mediator’...
Every experienced lawyer will know of advocacy bias - familiarity with a case which can lead you to underestimate the downside and overplay the upside. The experienced lawyer will recognise this and be able nonetheless to provide a balanced risk analysis to the client.
In a recent case I acted not as mediator but as mediation and negotiation coach for one of the parties. Reflection on the success of that mediation brings to mind the following insights:
As an ex soldier I have been surprised by the lack of reconnaissance by parties coming to mediations about the decision makers on the other side. “Googling” them during the first break out is probably too late. It is not just their names that are important, but who they are, what their roles...
Jeff Krivis discusses the different types of argument available to protagonists and suggests that the rhetorical model is best suited to success in mediation.
Liz Rivers, In Place of Strife mediator, writes that everyone benefits when women have a voice in decisions.
As mediators or legal advisers our primary task is to help parties resolve their dispute. Even when there is a settlement, however, we are sometimes left with a sense that there were underlying issues that haven’t been addressed. It can be a source of frustration that more could or should have...
I recently had a defendant solicitor who took a lot of persuading to provide a rationale for the opening offer he wanted me to take to the claimant. “If I provide a detailed breakdown of the numbers, the claimant will accept the bits it likes and reject those it doesn’t”.
John Sturrock QC, a leading mediator based in Edinburgh, explains how a collaborative approach to dispute avoidance and resolution is growing in the business world.
As Andrew Paton has observed: “Mediation can never proceed faster than the pace of the slowest party”.
Jane Andrewartha, David Cornes, David Miles and David Richbell, members of PIM Senior Mediators, examine the likely impact on mediators and mediation.