Law Commons^™

To Sue Is Human; To Settle Divine: Intercultural Collaborations To Expand The Use Of Mediation In Costa Rica, Donald C. Peters

Don Peters

Virtually all societies have developed non-adjudicative methods to resolve disputes. Third party intervention to help resolve disputes consensually, typically called mediation or conciliation, occurs in all cultures throughout the world. It now occurs in Costa Rica only voluntarily and primarily in family, community, labor, agricultural, and trade contexts. Connecting mediation or conciliation to court systems provides a comparatively new use of third party interventions not involving adjudication through arbitration or litigation. This typically occurs by referring matters for mediation services provided by state-funded programs, private centers, and private mediators. Florida, the first American state to authorize courts to order mediation …

When Lawyers Move Their Lips: Attorney Truthfulness In Mediation And A Modest Proposal, Donald Peters

Don Peters

This article examines whether the punch line that you can tell when lawyers are lying by confirming that their lips are moving applies to their conduct when negotiating in mediations. General surveys of lawyer honesty suggest that this perception probably does apply to the way lawyers negotiate in mediations. Only 20% of people surveyed in a 1993 American Bar Association poll described the legal profession as honest, and that number fell to 14% in a 1998 Gallup poll. However, research demonstrates a connection between honest negotiating and perceived effectiveness. A study of 5,000 Denver and Phoenix lawyers found that honest, …

Just When You Thought You Were Finished! A Mediator's View Of Bock V. Hansen, Charles Ferguson

Charles Ferguson

In what should have been an ordinary coverage dispute the California First District Court of Appeal in Bock v. Hansen, 225 Cal. App. 4th 215 (2014) has attracted considerable commentary by authorizing the plaintiff husband and wife to sue an individual employee of their home insurer for negligently misstating certain provisions of their policy to them while adjusting their claim. Mostly overlooked in the ensuing discussions of the case has been the fact that the case was settled before the decision was issued. Here the mediator analyzes why it would have been prudent for the court to wait for a …

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Mediation In Probate, Trust, And Guardianship Matters , Mary F. Radford

Mary F. Radford

Mediation is the ADR process by which a neutral third party works with disputants to reach a mutually agreeable resolution. Mediation is arguably the oldest and most popular ADR technique in use today. Part I of this essay discusses the commonly accepted advantages of mediation as an alternative to litigation, and, in some instances, questions whether those advantages become disadvantages in the context of probate, trust, and guardianship cases. Part II examines the use of mediation as a component of the actual estate planning process rather than as an alternative to litigation.

Final Offer Arbitration, Harold I. Abramson

Harold I. Abramson

No abstract provided.

Designing A Court-Annexed Mediation Program For Civil Cases In Brazil: Challenges And Opportunities, Fernando V. Luiz

Fernando V Luiz

In this article, I demonstrate that mediation is an important form of dispute resolution, displaying benefits when compared with adjudication. I try to refine what mediation is by contrasting it with judicial settlement conferences and conciliation. Regarding the ongoing process in Brazil, I state that every society should adapt a mediation program that is attainable for its social-economic and cultural reality. Criticizing the current Brazilian policies, I present the positive and negative aspects of the Resolution n. 125 of the National Council of Justice (CNJ), analyzing a possible program design feasible for the country, focusing on the issues of funding, …

Time To Try Mediation Of International Commercial Disputes, Harold Abramson

Harold I. Abramson

No abstract provided.

Commercial Arbitration And Settlement: Empirical Insights Into The Roles Arbitrators Play, Thomas Stipanowich, Zachary Ulrich

Thomas J. Stipanowich

A wide-ranging new Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution Survey of experienced arbitrators, conducted with the cooperation of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, reflects the growing professionalization of commercial arbitration, increasing competition for cases, and many other trends in arbitration practice. It also shows that a grower percentage of arbitrated cases are being settled prior to award or to the start of hearings, and offers a strong rationale for greater emphasis on the role of arbitrators in setting the stage for or facilitating settlement. Early settlement of a dispute can be a uniquely effective way of minimizing cost and cycle time …

Managing Construction Conflict: Unfinished Revolution, Continuing Evolution, Thomas Stipanowich

Thomas J. Stipanowich

Two decades ago many believed we were experiencing a “Quiet Revolution” in the way conflict was managed, and nowhere was this more true than in the construction sector. Frustration with the costs, delays, risks and limitations of lawyer-driven adjudication prompted growing attention to informal methods aimed at early resolution of disputes, with those who “owned” the dispute back in the driver’s seat. A smorgasbord of options for preventing, managing and resolving conflict was suddenly on the table. There were strategies aimed at the very roots of conflict, including contractual terms aimed at promoting collaboration and reducing the chance of serious …

Living With Adr: Evolving Perceptions And Use Of Mediation, Arbitration And Conflict Management In Fortune 1,000 Corporations, Thomas Stipanowich, Ryan Lamare

Thomas J. Stipanowich

As attorneys for the world’s most visible clients, corporate counsel played a key role in the transformation of American conflict resolution in the late Twentieth Century. In 1997 a survey of Fortune 1,000 corporate counsel provided the first broad-based picture of conflict resolution processes within large companies. In 2011, a second landmark survey of corporate counsel in Fortune 1,000 companies captured a variety of critical changes in the ways large companies handle conflict. Comparing their responses to those of the mid-1990s, clear and significant evolutionary trends are observable, including a further shift in corporate orientation away from litigation and toward …

Bargaining In The Shadow Of The Best-Interests Standard: The Close Connection Between Substance And Process In Resolving Divorce-Related Parenting Disputes, Jana B. Singer

Jana B. Singer

This essay, written for a Symposium celebrating the child custody scholarship of Professor Robert Mnookin, examines the close connection between changes in substantive child custody doctrine and changes in custody dispute resolution processes over the past 30 years. Part I of the article explores how the widespread adoption of an unmediated “best interest of the child” standard, and the ensuing rejection of the sole custody paradigm, precipitated a shift from adversarial to non-adversarial resolution of divorce-related parenting disputes. Part II of the essay reverses the direction of the analytic lens and considers how the shift from adversarial to non-adversarial dispute …

Resolving Workplace Disputes In The United States: The Growth Of Alternative Dispute Resolution In Employment Relations, David B. Lipsky, Ronald L. Seeber

David B Lipsky

[Excerpt] For more than a decade a "quiet revolution" has been occurring m the American system of justice. There has been a dramatic growth in the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to resolve disputes that might otherwise be handled through litigation. We define ADR as the use of any form of mediation or arbitration as a substitute for the public judicial or administrative process available to resolve a dispute (Lipsky and Seeber, 1998A}. In the United States mediation, arbitration, and their variants ordinarily are private processes in which the disputants themselves select, hire, and pay the third-party neutral who …

The Curious Case Of Transformative Dispute Resolution: An Unfortunate Marriage Of Intransigence, Exclusivity, And Hype, Robert J. Condlin

Robert J. Condlin

Why do proponents of Transformative Dispute Resolution (TDR) defend the Theory in such intransigent, exclusivist, and grandiose terms? TDR is a mature theory, and a relatively sophisticated one, and qualities of this sort usually go hand in hand with a balanced, refined, and well-modulated sense of self. But TDR proponents will have none of that. They make ambitious (some would say outlandish) assertions about the Theory’s capacity to develop moral and political character, reform deliberative government, and resolve ethno-political conflict, while simultaneously rejecting overtures from sympathetic outsiders to rein in the overstated aspects of these claims and craft a more …

Mediating Commitments, Ian Macduff

Ian Macduff

This paper explores the implications of one aspect of intercultural theory –the dimension of power distance– in order to comment on the nature of commitments in the mediation process. The familiar model of Western ediation assumes that parties can identify core interests and negotiate around those, through prioritising, trading and balancing. At the heart of our thinking about commitments are our ideas about agency, autonomy, and accountability. However, a core implication of empirical work on power distance suggests that expectations of deference may lead some participants to avoid direct decision-making responsibility and, rather than work towards commitments, to act on …

The Alternative Forms Of Dispute Settlement And The Essential Difference Between These And Arbitration, Michael Diathesopoulos

Michael Diathesopoulos

The paper examines the characteristics of some common alternative forms of dispute settlement and their key differences from arbitration regarding their nature and scope. Its purpose is to explore each mechanism's suitability for specific types of disputes.

Making Peace And Making Money: Economic Analysis Of The Market For Mediators In Private Practice, Urska Velikonja

Urska Velikonja

Mediation has grown tremendously in the last three decades, yet only a small number of mediators have been able to benefit financially from its growth. The supply of willing mediators by far exceeds the demand for their services. Mediator trainee overoptimism and the lack of formal barriers to entry result in excess entry in the market for mediators. However, the lack of a formal barrier, but the existence of de facto barriers to entry, such as mediator selection practices and specialization, combined with excessive individual optimism, creates inefficiently high levels of entry. This is socially suboptimal: many aspirant mediators spend …

Timing Settlement, Curtis E.A. Karnow

Curtis E.A. Karnow

A review of empirical and theoretical research pertaining to the effective timing of settlement conferences, and the factors affecting success at settlement.

Moving Beyond "Just" A Deal, A Bad Deal Or No Deal: How A Deal-Facilitator Engaged By The Parties As "Counsel To The Deal" Can Help Them Improve The Quality And Sustainability Of The Outcome, Manon Schonewille, Kenneth Fox

Kenneth H Fox

Mediation is commonly characterized as one of several core ADR processes. The vast majority of the mediation literature focuses on dispute settlement and resolution. However, relatively little attention is paid to the transactional potential of business mediation - ways in which this ADR process can assist the parties to build better deals. This article describes mediation as a deal-facilitation process.

Problem-Solving Advocacy In Mediations: A Model Of Client Representation, Harold Abramson

Harold I. Abramson

No abstract provided.

Selecting Mediators And Representing Clients In Cross-Cultural Disputes, Harold Abramson

Harold I. Abramson

This article was originally published as Selecting Mediators and Representing Clients in Cross-Cultural Disputes, 7 CARDOZO J. CONFLICT RESOL. 253 (2006).

Crossing Borders Into New Ethical Territory: Ethical Challenges When Mediating Cross-Culturally, Harold Abramson

Harold I. Abramson

No abstract provided.

Selecting Mediators And Representing Clients In Cross-Cultural Disputes, Harold Abramson

Harold I. Abramson

This article was originally published as Selecting Mediators and Representing Clients in Cross-Cultural Disputes, 7 CARDOZO J. CONFLICT RESOL. 253 (2006).

Problem-Solving Advocacy In Mediations: A Model Of Client Representation, Harold Abramson

Harold I. Abramson

No abstract provided.

Mediation Workshop: Basic Course Materials, Laurence Boulle, John Wade

John Wade

No abstract provided.

Five Things I Learnt This Year (And Should Have Known Already), Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp reflects on 2008 and the lessons learnt as a jobbing mediator

Rehearsing In Poetry, But Practising In Prose - The Anatomy Of A Manly Mediation, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

As arranged, the cast gathered at 9.30am for yesterday's production in the sort of law offices where, if you want a coffee, you need to say whether it's a latte, macchiato, cappuccino or espresso with soy/trim/creamer...

40 Sites In 40 Minutes, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

The best of free mediation resources on the world wide web

I Know It's Not My Problem... But It Happened On My Watch, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

It is at some risk that I set out to promote my expertise in the area of what to do when mediation ends in disagreement.

Nevertheless, I dread those times when the smell of napalm hangs in the air as the parties depart the room with their final exchanges of the ‘see you in court’ variety ringing in my ears.

To assist my investigation of what we do as mediators when destination Yes eludes us, I polled a number of experienced commercial mediators. I am indebted to my friends from Bond University in Queensland, Australia and colleagues from the International …

Desert Island Questions For Mediators, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

When I was a wee lad, I drove others nuts by asking questions. They were, I am told, good open ones usually starting ".... but, why?"

As time passed, I grew into a know-it-all teen and forgot about asking questions, more intent on doing the telling. Now at age 40 and in my role as a commercial mediator, I seem to have come full circle and once again appreciate the value of the well-timed, well-constructed question aimed at the essence of a discussion.

So what are my all-time favourites? What questions do I ask that make people sit back in …

The Legal Scholarship Of Blogs, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

If you’ve ever felt the need to share your opinions with the world, then blogs just may provide you with the global audience you’ve been longing for. Geoff Sharp surfs the wave of the future and finds out the skinny on blawging.