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How Can A Mediator Be Both Impartial And Fair: Why Ethical Standards Of Conduct Create Chaos For Mediators, Susan Nauss Exon
How Can A Mediator Be Both Impartial And Fair: Why Ethical Standards Of Conduct Create Chaos For Mediators, Susan Nauss Exon
Journal of Dispute Resolution
This article focuses on newly developing Standards designed to regulate the mediation industry with respect to civil disputes. The particular focus is on the mediator's requirements of neutrality and impartiality and whether these requirements are impacted by assurances of a fair result and other fairness concepts such as a balanced process and informed decision making. The basic problem is that mediators are guided by Standards and stand-alone definitions of mediation, yet many Standards contain contradictory or vague provisions. Furthermore, the mediator's actual role may be dictated by her own personal style, values, and commercial needs in conjunction with the parties' …
When Confidentiality Is Not Essential To Mediation And Competing Interests Necessitate Disclosure, Patrick Gill
When Confidentiality Is Not Essential To Mediation And Competing Interests Necessitate Disclosure, Patrick Gill
Journal of Dispute Resolution
Mediation is a process where a neutral intervener helps disputing parties develop a mutually beneficial resolution. Confidentiality is an established element of mediation. In general, confidentiality furthers the ability of the parties to seek mutually beneficial outcomes to disputes that would otherwise customarily produce a win/lose result. Confidentiality encourages parties to explore their underlying interests, without fear of the repercussions of revealing such information. Arguments are asserted that mediation will not succeed without the assurance that communications will be protected by a confidentiality privilege. The Uniform Mediation Act (UMA) has attempted to clarify the various confidentiality protections afforded by individual …
Music, Mediation, And Superstrings: The Quest For Universal Harmony, John W. Cooley
Music, Mediation, And Superstrings: The Quest For Universal Harmony, John W. Cooley
Journal of Dispute Resolution
It is my thesis that to be an effective mediator, one needs to be a musician at heart (if not in fact)-both a composer and performer. Music is what a mediator does-what a mediator makes. To design or perform well, a mediator must at least understand music composition and performance in all its aspects. A mediator has no choice in the matter, because music, in a broad sense, permeates nature and is considered to be the quintessential ingredient of all matter and energy-of everything or unthing in the universe. To understand how music relates to what he or she does, …
Influence Of Procedural And Distributive Variables On Settlement Rates In Employment Discrimination Mediation, The, E. Patrick Mcdermott, Danny Ervin
Influence Of Procedural And Distributive Variables On Settlement Rates In Employment Discrimination Mediation, The, E. Patrick Mcdermott, Danny Ervin
Journal of Dispute Resolution
Mediators and scholars are interested in factors that contribute to a successful mediation. The settlement of the dispute is one measure of success. If one could identify certain key process or outcome variables that caused more disputes to be settled in mediation, a mediator could use this information to maximize settlement potential. We seek to add to this search for the "holy grail" of mediation settlement.' Using an extensive database from the evaluation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) we attempt to determine whether certain procedural and distributive factors are significant predictors of case resolution. We also examine whether …
Confidentiality In Mediation: Is It Encouraging Good Mediation Or Bad Conduct, Sarah Williams
Confidentiality In Mediation: Is It Encouraging Good Mediation Or Bad Conduct, Sarah Williams
Journal of Dispute Resolution
Mediation has long been used in the judicial system of the United States to offer an alternative to litigation which can save time and money. Not only have its cost-effective and time efficient attributes contributed to its use, but the judiciary and legislature have often encouraged its use in order to mitigate the number of cases in the court system. In some states, the legislature has enacted statutes to make mediation mandatory before certain adjudications will even take place. Furthermore, to encourage these mediations to settle, many legislatures and jurisdictions have enacted statutes to protect the confidentiality of the mediation. …
Confidentiality In Victim Offender Mediation: A False Promise, Mary Ellen Reimund
Confidentiality In Victim Offender Mediation: A False Promise, Mary Ellen Reimund
Journal of Dispute Resolution
The intent of the article is to provide the framework by which victim offender programs can delve into the complexities of mediation confidentiality and avert potential disaster. First, a foundation is needed to explain the philosophical goals of restorative justice, the VOM process, and mediation as it relates to restorative justice. With that background, areas that are likely to spark confidentiality concerns will be discussed as will exemplary confidentiality statutes, cases, and the Uniform Mediation Act. By carving a path of awareness through this previously unexplored topic as it relates to VOM, there will be less likelihood of false promises …
Assuring Excellence, Or Merely Reassuring - Policy And Practice In Promoting Mediator Quality, Charles Pou Jr.
Assuring Excellence, Or Merely Reassuring - Policy And Practice In Promoting Mediator Quality, Charles Pou Jr.
Journal of Dispute Resolution
Mediation practice in the United States has grown substantially over the last two decades, as has the number of people offering to serve as mediators. This growth has led some to argue that competency standards are needed to protect consumers and promote the integrity of mediation processes. While professionals and researchers have tried over the past fifteen years or so to define "what mediators do" and better understand "how to do it well," alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs, roster administrators, and parties seeking neutrals have had to make day-to-day choices.
State Legislative Update, Robert J. Fisher, Katherine M. Massa, Benjamin B. Nelson, Cassandra A. Rogers
State Legislative Update, Robert J. Fisher, Katherine M. Massa, Benjamin B. Nelson, Cassandra A. Rogers
Journal of Dispute Resolution
Senate Bill 1970 was introduced in the Florida Senate on March 2, 2004. It was initially referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee where it passed on April 19 with an 8-0 vote. Senate Bill 1970 was read for the first time in the Senate on April 21. The bill passed the full Senate on April 24 with a 39-0 vote. It was then sent to the full House on April 26 where it was substituted for House Bill 1765. Senate Bill 1970 was read and passed in the House on April 27 with a 114-0 vote. The bill was presented …
Assessing Mediator Performance: The Usefulness Of Participant Questionnaires, Roselle L. Wissler, Robert W. Rack Jr.
Assessing Mediator Performance: The Usefulness Of Participant Questionnaires, Roselle L. Wissler, Robert W. Rack Jr.
Journal of Dispute Resolution
As part of their obligation to provide quality services, courts that offer mediation need to periodically assess the performance of mediators to whom they refer cases. One of several methods that have been proposed for monitoring mediator quality is participant assessments of mediator performance. The present article reports an empirical study that examined attorneys' assessments of the skillfulness of mediators in a federal appellate civil medations program. The attorneys rated some of the mediators as being more skillful than others, and these differences generally remained whether or not favorable outcomes were achieved in mediation. In addition, the attorneys rated individual …
Teaching And Learning From The Mediations In Barry Werth's Damages, Leonard L. Riskin
Teaching And Learning From The Mediations In Barry Werth's Damages, Leonard L. Riskin
Journal of Dispute Resolution
The two mediations in the book Damages, illuminate much about mediation in today's litigation environment - even though they took place in 1993 and each was, in its own way, quite unusual. for that reason - and because we have few good detailed descriptions of real mediations - I have used these two mediations to teach in a variety of settings. First, they served as one of several focuses in the course based on this book, called Damages: A Case Study, that we taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Law in the winter 2002 and 2003 semesters. In …
Sound Of Dust Settling: A Response To Criticisms Of The Uma, The, Richard C. Reuben
Sound Of Dust Settling: A Response To Criticisms Of The Uma, The, Richard C. Reuben
Journal of Dispute Resolution
Continuing UMA "concerns," therefore, have a certain vestigial or residual character, often reflecting views taken in battles that were fought within the drafting sessions - sometimes fiercely - but which were incapable of producing a majority among the UMA drafters. Professor Brian Shannon's criticisms largely echo these discussions, and in this Article I seek to respond to some of them - after first extending my greatest appreciation to Professor Shannon for his willingness to be the "skunk in the parlor" of this symposium edition by generally aggregating those criticisms." In Part I, I give some of the unpublished history of …
Uniform Mediation Act And Official Comments
Uniform Mediation Act And Official Comments
Journal of Dispute Resolution
The provisions in this Act reflect the intent of the Drafters to further these public policies. The Drafters intend for the Act to be applied and construed in a way to promote uniformity, as stated in Section, and also in such manner as to: promote candor of parties through confidentiality of the mediation process, subject only to the need for disclosure to accommodate specific and compelling social interests, encourage the policy of fostering prompt, economical, and amicable resolution of disputes in accordance with principles of integrity of the mediation process, active party involvement, and informed self-determination by the parties, and …
Prohibiting Good Faith Reports Under The Uniform Mediation Act: Keeping The Adjudication Camel Out Of The Mediation Tent, Carol L. Izumi, Homer C. La Rue
Prohibiting Good Faith Reports Under The Uniform Mediation Act: Keeping The Adjudication Camel Out Of The Mediation Tent, Carol L. Izumi, Homer C. La Rue
Journal of Dispute Resolution
This symposium article examines a narrow slice of the Uniform Mediation Act - the prohibition on mediator communication to judges about a party's good faith participation or "problem" behavior in mediation.
Uma And The Uncitral Model Rule: An Emerging Consensus On Mediation And Conciliation, The, Jernej Sekolec, Michael B. Getty
Uma And The Uncitral Model Rule: An Emerging Consensus On Mediation And Conciliation, The, Jernej Sekolec, Michael B. Getty
Journal of Dispute Resolution
In this article, we describe how these two efforts have come together to forge an international consensus on mediation and conciliation. In Part I, we look at how some of the different ways that domestic nationals treat the confidentiality of conciliation communications. The disparity of these treatments leads to considerable uncertainty among parties to a conciliation. In Part II, we note the essential features of the UNCITRAL Model Law, and how it addresses this uncertainty through model rules that will harmonize international standards among adopting nations, at least on core issues, while at the same time preserving the flexibility that …
Introduction, David A. Hoffman
Introduction, David A. Hoffman
Journal of Dispute Resolution
My introduction to the issues that the Uniform Mediation Act seeks to resolve occurred about a dozen years ago when a senior partner at Hill & Barlow, the Boston law firm where I practiced for 17 years, came to me with a question. He wanted to know whether he could recommend mediation as a safe process for discussing some delicate tax issues that had arisen during the breakup of a business partnership. Evidently the partners had taken some aggressive positions on their partnership tax returns, and one of the big issues in the dissolution of the partnership was the allocation …
Uma: Some Roads Not Taken, The, Joseph B. Stulberg
Uma: Some Roads Not Taken, The, Joseph B. Stulberg
Journal of Dispute Resolution
I do not want to overstate my claim. There is nothing in the UMA that precludes conducting a mediated conversation in a manner consistent with what I frame below as a "robust vision" of the mediator's role. The Act, however, does not provide sustained support for it and, more seriously, appears to license the type of intervener that I believe is inconsistent with basic process goals. Hence, I am conjecturing - though I do not believe it is "idle conjecturing" - as to how parties, representative, and the mediator shall conduct their mediation conference under the vision of mediation embedded …
Culture Change - A Tale Of Two Cities And Mandatory Court-Connected Mediation, Julie Macfarlane
Culture Change - A Tale Of Two Cities And Mandatory Court-Connected Mediation, Julie Macfarlane
Journal of Dispute Resolution
This is the first study to ask Canadian lawyers to describe in depth what they really think about mediation and the impact it has had on their litigation practices.'3 Their responses are rich, reflective and diverse. Many different understandings of mediation goals within litigation are present in the legal profession itself, and this lack of consensus is reflected in the results of this study. Before explaining the methodology of the study, it is useful to first set out its theoretical premises and to relate these to previous research on the legal profession which offer important insights relevant to the development …
Oh, Ye Of Little (Good) Faith: Questions, Concerns And Commentary On Efforts To Regulate Participant Conduct In Mediations, Roger L. Carter
Oh, Ye Of Little (Good) Faith: Questions, Concerns And Commentary On Efforts To Regulate Participant Conduct In Mediations, Roger L. Carter
Journal of Dispute Resolution
There are many types of mediation. This article focuses exclusively on mediations within Professor Lande's "liti-mediation culture" - those dealing with disputes that are or may become the subject of litigation. I address both court-connected and private mediations as I believe that the potential for bad faith exists in both. Following this Introduction, in Part II, I examine definitions of "good faith" in mediation, I then review commentary and case law on good faith requirements. In Part III, I argue that certain objectively determinable behavior ought to be proscribed. By contrast, some good faith standards adopted by courts or advocated …
Finding Out If It Is True: Comparing Mediation And Negotiation Through Research, Craig A. Mcewen, Roselle L. Wissler
Finding Out If It Is True: Comparing Mediation And Negotiation Through Research, Craig A. Mcewen, Roselle L. Wissler
Journal of Dispute Resolution
In this article, we first use existing research evidence to contextualize more clearly the place of civil case mediation in the litigation process. When we understand civil mediation as part of adversarial litigation - rather than as distinct from it - we see the importance of comparing mediation and unassisted negotiation. Next, we discuss research and commentary on the barriers to negotiation and the ways in which mediation might help overcome them. This work provides a more pragmatic and empirically grounded perspective on the potential value of mediation than does "mediation ideology" and suggests a wide range of "hypotheses" to …
Emperor's New Clothes: Mediation Mythology And Markets, The, Susan S. Silbey
Emperor's New Clothes: Mediation Mythology And Markets, The, Susan S. Silbey
Journal of Dispute Resolution
The Emperor's New Clothes is a very modem tale about carving out market niches, about generating and feeding unreasonable desires, and about the power of conformity within emergent occupations and powerful professions.
Suppose It's Not True: Challenging Mediation Ideology, Deborah R. Hensler
Suppose It's Not True: Challenging Mediation Ideology, Deborah R. Hensler
Journal of Dispute Resolution
Across the country, people who file lawsuits are being diverted from adjudication to mediation. Whereas once mediation was seen as the preferred means of resolving family disputes (especially those involving child custody), now it is mandated for a broad range of civil disputes. Whereas once citizens were called upon to volunteer as mediators in community justice centers outside the courts, now mediation is a line of business for lawyers whose customers are sent to them by the courts. Whereas once dispute resolution theorists called on courts to provide a variety of procedural choices for civil disputants, now courts order litigants …
Mediation As One Step In Adversarial Litigation: One Country Lawyer's Experience, John R. Phillips
Mediation As One Step In Adversarial Litigation: One Country Lawyer's Experience, John R. Phillips
Journal of Dispute Resolution
This experience stands in stark contrast to the thesis of Professor Deborah Hensler in her article, Suppose It's Not True: Challenging Mediation Ideology. Therein, Professor Hensler attempts to link social psychological research that she interprets as showing dissatisfaction with the use of mediation compared to adjudication, which, in turn, leads her to conclude that clients should prefer counsel who ordinarily can resolve cases successfully without the help of mediation.7 The fallacy of Professor Hensler's argument is evident in several respects. For one, she relies far too heavily on her own intuition and previous empirical research of marginal relevance, and on …
Mediation And Domestic Violence: A Practical Screening Method For Mediators And Mediation Program Administrators, Alexandria Zylstra
Mediation And Domestic Violence: A Practical Screening Method For Mediators And Mediation Program Administrators, Alexandria Zylstra
Journal of Dispute Resolution
Presented with such a dearth of standard practices and literature, family mediators have little guidance in whether and how to address cases involving domestic violence. Thus, this article sets forth a mediation screening framework that mediators and mediation program administrators can use to evaluate whether cases are appropriate for regular mediation (joint session without special safety measures), some modified form of mediation, or should be excluded from mediation. Such a method will better ensure a safe and fair mediation experience. Part II briefly examines the controversy surrounding the mediation of cases involving domestic violence, concluding that the arguments against mediating …
Be Careful What You Say In Mediation - Indiana Supreme Court Rules That Oral Settlement Agreements Reached In Mediation Must Be In Writing To Be Enforceable - Kirk E. And Martha Vernon V. Adam J. Acton, Garrett S. Taylor
Journal of Dispute Resolution
When parties use mediation as an alternative to litigation, they generally expect the agreement will be binding upon the parties and confidential. However, the parties must ensure that the agreement they reach is reduced to writing or the agreement may not be enforceable. Furthermore, certain things said during the mediation session may be admissible in future litigation proceedings. The Indiana Supreme Court, in Vernon v. Acton, held that until mediation agreements are reduced to writing and signed by the parties, they must be considered compromise settlement negotiations under the applicable evidence rules and are not admissible as evidence of an …
Identifying Real Dichotomies Underlying The False Dichotomy: Twenty-First Century Mediation In An Eclectic Regime, Jeffrey W. Stemple
Identifying Real Dichotomies Underlying The False Dichotomy: Twenty-First Century Mediation In An Eclectic Regime, Jeffrey W. Stemple
Journal of Dispute Resolution
Preparation for the University of Missouri's lecture on dispute resolution and consideration of commentary prompted additional thoughts on the issue and a more refined perspective on the issue of facilitation-versus-evaluation and its role in the continued development of modem ADR. Rather than attempt to fine-tune a completed article, this reply will address the additional perspectives as well as note points of distinct conflict or quibble with commentators. First, this reply provides some additional assessment framing the facilitative-evaluative debate as well as a modified brief in support of the legitimacy of some elements of evaluation in the eclectic mediation that is …
Mediating Citizen Complaints Against The Police: An Exploratory Study , Samuel Walker, Carol Archbold
Mediating Citizen Complaints Against The Police: An Exploratory Study , Samuel Walker, Carol Archbold
Journal of Dispute Resolution
This article examines the subject of mediating citizen complaints against the police. It reviews the history of citizen complaints, presents data on existing police complaint mediation programs, and discusses the potential contributions of mediation to police accountability.
Evaluation And Facilitation: Moving Past Either/Or, Richard Birke
Evaluation And Facilitation: Moving Past Either/Or, Richard Birke
Journal of Dispute Resolution
In this essay, I argue that there is no such thing as a purely facilitative mediation of a legal dispute. Neither is there such a thing as a purely evaluative mediation of a legal dispute. Mediation of legal disputes is, by its nature, always facilitative and evaluative. The evaluative-facilitative divide is an artificial artifact of history. Following this introduction, I offer a brief description of the development of the field of legal mediation, and I attempt to place the Riskin grid in historical context. I then hope to push the debate toward a new moment, one in which all mediation …
Toward More Sophisticated Mediation Theory, John Lande
Toward More Sophisticated Mediation Theory, John Lande
Journal of Dispute Resolution
Some of these benefits are due to the particular arguments of facilitation proponents, while others involve a general development of the field resulting from the debate. The first benefit is that facilitation proponents have highlighted how mediation can promote many important values such as party self-determination, and they have cautioned about risks of unfairness created by mediator evaluation as described in Part III. Second, the facilitation-evaluation debate has stimulated a better appreciation of the appropriateness of these techniques in different types of cases, as described in Part IV. Third, the debate has contributed to reducing ill-considered evaluation practice, as discussed …
Variations In Mediation: How - And Why - Legal Mediators Change Styles In The Course Of A Case, Dwight Golann
Variations In Mediation: How - And Why - Legal Mediators Change Styles In The Course Of A Case, Dwight Golann
Journal of Dispute Resolution
I will seek to show in this article that professional legal mediators in fact use a variety of styles, and that they change their approach constantly during a single mediation, even within a single meeting with a disputant. I will argue that these stylistic changes are the norm rather than the exception in the mediation of civil legal disputes and that the use of evaluative techniques is also frequent, even among those mediators who favor a broad, facilitative approach. Finally, I will describe the contrasting styles that the filmed mediators used in the same dispute and argue that these variations …
Concern Over Confidentiality In Mediation - An In-Depth Look At The Protection Provided By The Proposed Uniform Mediation Act, The, Mindy D. Rufenacht
Concern Over Confidentiality In Mediation - An In-Depth Look At The Protection Provided By The Proposed Uniform Mediation Act, The, Mindy D. Rufenacht
Journal of Dispute Resolution
This Comment will investigate the historical problems with confidentiality in mediation and evaluate the Proposed Uniform Mediation Act's (hereinafter "U.M.A." or "Act") approaches to remedying confidentiality issues. The reader should carefully note that the Uniform Mediation Act is in an on-going drafting phase at this time, and the content of the Act's drafts discussed herein are not final and are for discussion purposes only. This Comment's discussion will cover confidentiality in disclosure with respect to parties, waiver, and a mediator's duty of non-disclosure. This Comment will also compare the mechanisms the U.M.A. has put in place to govern confidentiality to …