Conventional wisdom

What constitutes effective mediation advocacy? Litigation lawyers in an ever-increasing number of jurisdictions around the world understand that mediation is becoming or has become the primary…

Mediators deal in words – not exclusively, but a great deal (and perhaps sometimes too much, but that's another blog). So it pays for us to think carefully about what words really mean. A couple of…

Recently I have noticed mediators using a label to describe other people's practice. It is rarely a compliment. That label is "evaluative"; as in "she takes rather an evaluative approach" or "his…

I should begin this blog with a reservation and a disclaimer: in using the now-familiar "v3.0" description here, I don't wish to suggest, as software or IT developers might, that what is involved…

Not so long ago I was a claiming party as part of a group of plaintiffs in the stead of my elderly parents in a multiparty, multimillion dollar mediation. Now, I mediate around 120 mediations every…

Most mediators I know graduated from the Facilitative School of Mediation – and we could spend much ink here debating exactly what that means but to my mind we were essentially taught to own the…

[Author's Note: I am grateful to Ms. Melissa Teo whose journal ruminations led me to the random thoughts that follow] I teach mediation skills at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law…

 Interesting ripples on the interweb about mediator 'styles' - (see the LinkedIn group 'ADR, Conflict Resolution and Mediation Exchange'). One discussion thread was prompted by a nice 'Emperor's New…

 Prior to Christmas I found myself in Jerusalem, Israel – the heart of the heart of the conflict of our time. Here, no one agrees on anything – even the monks from various Christian denominations …