Mediators’ Conduct

It’s been a tough week. In fact, it has been a tough month. And, on reading Geoff Sharp’s post from 30th November, I am amused and reassured to see that I am not alone in thinking this! Maybe it’s…

I am writing this from outside my home country, on a two-week assignment. It’s not a “mediation” as we might typically know it – not yet, anyway - but rather an early stage engagement with a long…

 Yep, it's been an up-and-down month.  More down than up if I'm honest. But hey! I've done enough of these things to know that my old Dad was right all those years ago when we'd stand at the top of a…

 How good are the decisions you make? Are they free from error? From unconscious bias? Are they consistently the product of careful reasoning? Before you answer yes, consider the following questions:…

Years ago, I participated in a Richard Salem led mediation skills acquisition training for retired Judges and I will never forget the words of a just retired Chief Judge contemplating a career in…

 Hong Kong is the global city of designer ‘labels’ as even the most reluctant of shoppers cannot fail to observe. It is also the city of fakes – fakes with labels and fakes without labels – and the…

1. Failing to get the right people at the table. 2. Failing to explain the mediator's role as agent of reality. 3. Permitting settlement negotiations to begin prematurely - prior to permitting the…

Desire. I have some transcripts from real-life family mediations to analyse and reading the transcripts, it struck me that I was reading about desire. This sent me back to my 1985 language,…

This post is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs (1955-2011) [Author’s note: I had in mind another subject for this blog post. I was however moved to write this one. It seems fitting that I am…