As part of my work as a member of the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Section, I maintain a listing of Dispute Resolution websites of interest to Section members and the general public. Periodically I update the listing and I welcome suggestions of new sites or sites not listed […]
Mediators don’t decide cases
A recent online newspaper article contained this line: “[T]he case has been ordered to be decided by a mediator.” It’s a basic point and central to the the mediation concept and process: mediators don’t decide cases. Still, it’s not always understood, as so clearly shown in the article. I occasionally meet people who respond to […]
Mediation and Arbitration — New Haven County Bar Association program
On Wednesday, October 15, 2008, I will be a panelist in a program that is part of the New Haven County Bar Association’s annual “Nuts & Bolts CLE Series”. This is the seventh year that the Bar Association is presenting its nine-part Practice Skills Program For Newer Attorneys. The NHCBA describes Wednesday’s program, Advanced Litigation: […]
“Success” in mediation – Part II
The NE-ACR News summer 2008 issue presents some of the results of a request to readers to answer the question of what defines “success” in mediation and how a case might illustrate that definition. ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) practitioners responded and demonstrated how the idea of “success” may be broader than some might think. In […]
“Success” in mediation – Part I
In the summer 2008 issue of the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution newsletter, NE-ACR News, the first article presents a sampling of the responses received when the editors asked ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) practitioners to describe their definition of “success” in mediation and a case that illustrates that definition. Mediators approached […]
Mediation and litigation: is it either/or?
Mediation is often referred to as a form of “alternative dispute resolution” or ADR. Though some question whether traditional litigation is now the more “alternative” approach, and mediation and arbitration the more common, there’s another point to consider. Once you have embarked on a course of litigation, is there a point of no return, when […]
“Nobody budgets for mediation and conflict resolution”
“Nobody budgets for mediation and conflict resolution” is a quote from Montana Consensus Council Chairwoman Peggy Trenk, in a recent article, “Plug soon to be pulled on state mediation agency,” by Charles S. Johnson, in the Billings Gazette. The council was created in 1994 “to help groups and agencies resolve conflicts and reach consensus on […]
Opting for mediation in mandatory arbitration cases – Part II
Last time, I described a bit about the Wall Street Journal Family Finances article titled “Trading Dispute? Try Mediation.” The WSJ article gave an overview of the manner in which two alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes could interface. Although the context there was brokerage account disputes, the same concepts apply to other areas where a […]
Opting for mediation in mandatory arbitration cases – Part I
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a Family Finances article titled “Trading Dispute? Try Mediation.” The article addresses head-on a couple of common questions about mediation. First, the parties to a dispute may have agreed in advance (say, in a consumer or brokerage contract) to pursue mandatory arbitration if a dispute arises during the life […]
Mediation processes in China
A few days ago I had the opportunity to sit down with Jamie Horsley, Deputy Director of the China Law Center at the Yale Law School, Shi-Chi Pan, a Yale Law student, and Zhao Wenmei, a visiting scholar from China to share some thoughts and experience about mediation in the U.S. Ms. Zhao, one of […]
