Mediation has produced some surprising and unexpected outcomes. One has been its revolutionary speed of acceptance as a means of bringing a civil dispute to a conclusion without judicial…
I like the Christmas season. It marks a very happy time in the year for me and I'm afraid, it makes me a bit silly. In that spirit, I hope readers will forgive that I start off with an Elephant story…
This blog is inspired by a page from Monty Python's 'Big Red Book' entitled 'Why Accountancy is Not Boring.' (Apologies to those who have not come across the Pythons' rather English form of humour -…
On November 29, 2011, the European Commission announced (MEMO/11/840) its proposals for a new Directive on consumer ADR and a new Regulation on consumer ODR. With some countries in the Eurozone in…
In his blog post on the 22nd of November, Kenny Aina referred to judges who mediate, commenting that many judges do not possess a mediator’s paradigm. To find out what that is, you will have to read…
As we all know mediation is an interest-based method to resolve conflicts. Nevertheless it is not always easy to know:
• which interests drive parties into a conflict
• which interests make them want…
It has been nearly a year since the Federal Code of Civil Procedure ("CCP") has entered into force in Switzerland (text available, in French, at: http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c272.html). The purpose…
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-…
One of the things that has been exercising me for some time is the question of what constitutes success in commercial mediation. I ask the question because the experience of the London office of my…
