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 process and butt out of the outcome.

Recently there have been a number of calls for mediators to do more – more what is perhaps a little unclear, but certainly the market wants more something.

Just last month the IMI International Corporate Users ADR Survey polled 76 in-house dispute resolution Counsel from North America and Europe with over two thirds of the responders being from corporations with 10,000 plus employees.

Responding to the injunction that “Mediators should not be purely faci [...]

In what I hope readers of this blog will consider a deft segue, I want to shift from the successful judicial mediation that I highlighted last month to one that didn’t proceed quite so smoothly.

Deals negotiated in mediation tend to hold or, at least, that’s been the conventional wisdom. The theory is that because of the consensual nature of the process parties tend to abide by the agreements they’ve struck in mediation.

In Ontario we’ve just had a rare high profile example of a situation where that wasn’t the case. A news summary of the decision in Kidd v. The Canada Life Assurance Co. can be read here and the full decision of Justice Perrel can be seen here. Both the article and th [...]

A few years ago, the mediation world was alight with gossip about the proposed launch of IMI, the International Mediation Institute (see www.IMImediation.org if you have never heard of it). Proponents and opponents in equal measure gathered either to welcome a fresh initiative, or to man the barricades against an attack on cherished turf. The strength of feeling in some quarters was truly remarkable.

As these things so often do, the initial furore died down. IMI came into being. Those welcoming it joined, those opposing it presumably didn’t. And no doubt a few of the “don’t knows” jumped on board just in case.

The purpose of this blog is not to re-ignite that debate (heaven [...]

A new study of dispute resolution practices in Fortune 1,000 corporations shows that many large companies are using binding arbitration less often and relying more on mediated negotiation and other approaches aimed at resolving disputes informally, quickly and inexpensively. The 2011 survey of corporate counsel developed by researchers at Cornell University’s Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution, the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law, and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR) produced results that appear to be strongly reflective of U.S. practices and trends, but thoughtful practitioners and scholars will [...]

Since 2010, when the Brazilian National Council of Justice (CNJ), the agency that controls and manages the quality of civil services rendered by the Brazilian Judiciary Power, issued Resolution no. 125 , the mediation market in Brazil became considerably more active. This new Public Policy provided instructions on the proper handling of conflicts within the scope of the Brazilian Judiciary Power. Among others, it introduced:

- “Special Centers” at the Brazilian Courts devoted to conflict resolution and citizenship, whose goals, in addition to the usual mediation legal procedures, are to provide information, guidance and to assist the general public regarding the Mediation proces [...]

A recently reported decision of the Ontario Superior Court highlights the efficacy of the mediation process in resolving complex disputes particularly in circumstances where uncertainty of outcome reigns supreme.

 In Johnston v. The Shelia Morrison Schools, 2013 ONSC 1528 Justice Perell was asked to approve a settlement in an Action which had been certified under the Ontario Class Proceedings Act, 1992.

 The Action advanced abuse claims on behalf of students who had attended the Sheila Morrison School, a co-educational residential and day school for children between 10 – 18 years of age who suffered from learning disabilities and behaviour problems. The school operated from 1977 until 2009 [...]

Sometimes, I look around at mediation events at a sea of grey hair (mine included!). Where, I wonder, are those to whom we are handing this torch? And more importantly, what do they think?

So as the dust settled on last month’s ICC mediation competition in Paris, I took the chance to capture some of its real significance for the student participants in the final, plus one coach, one mediator, and one judge. All of us immersed in the world of mediation need to listen to their voices.

I am hugely grateful to the following for sharing their thoughts:
Nupur Upadhyay, student, New Zealand
Jakub Bielamowicz, student, Poland
Greg Bond, mediator, UK/Germany
Marta Warchol, student, Poland
Rosem [...]

Mediator is New Premier in Ontario

Following my rant last month about the need for more mediators in public policy-making, the Liberal Party of Ontario has chosen a former mediator, Kathleen Wynne, as their new leader and, consequently, as the first woman Premier of Ontario. I had no idea this Blog had so much influence. See the full story here.

Unsurprisingly Premier Wynne began her tenure with a “conciliatory” Throne Speech (that’s the way we get the government rolling here in Ontario) appealing for “common ground” with opposition parties and others embroiled in disputes with her government.

Stay tuned to see how that works out.

P.S. – It seems that Premier Wynne is following in [...]

You may have seen a post on 17 April 2012 exploring the thinking behind the Commercial Mediation Group, an affiliation that aims to give a voice to the users of commercial mediation services. The post explained what the CMG had been up to since its inception and communicated the results of a survey on topical mediation issues.

Since then, the CMG has been active in a number of areas and continues to generate considerable interest and support from the mediation community. This post gives a brief update on recent months.

Mediation speed dating
On 19 September 2012 Linklaters on behalf of the Commercial Mediation Group hosted a “mediation speed dating” event, giving litigators and mediators [...]

Many of you will have read of the tragedy this week in Arizona, where a mediation ended in the death of one party, and the serious wounding of their lawyer. Details are still sketchy, but it seems that a mediation of a commercial dispute was taking place in an office in downtown Phoenix, between a call centre and Mr Harmon, a furniture manufacturer. The dispute was apparently intense and bitter. Evidently, Mr Harmon left the mediation saying that he had to go to his car. The other party and their lawyer assumed he had left the mediation completely, and so took the lift down to the exit to leave. It is alleged that Mr Harmon was waiting for them there with his gun, shot and killed the ca [...]