Conventional wisdom

Causes of Conflict, Communication, Conflict, conlfict coaching, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, Decision making, Dispute Resolution, Efficiency, Europe, Future of mediation, General, Governments/Public Sector, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Improvisation, Interests, Mediation Practice, Memory and Illusions, Negotiation, Neuroscience, peace negotiations, Policy, Public Policy, Reform, Scotland, Skills, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /1 Comment

“The key to doing well lies not in overcoming others, but in eliciting their co-operation.” Robert Axelrod “Although negotiation takes place every day, it is not easy to do well. Standard strategies for negotiation often leave people dissatisfied, worn out or alienated…..” Roger Fisher and William Ury For probably the final time, I am writing…

ADR, Conventional wisdom, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.)

(NZ Centre for ICT Law & School of Law, Auckland University)/ /3 Comments

This brief comment arises from genuine curiosity and contains a question for my co-authors and anyone else who happens to read this blog. The situation is this: I’ve recently finished reading the first instalment of the learning journals for my Negotiation and Mediation class, which is a device I’ve used for the more than 20…

Business, Causes of Conflict, Commercial Mediation, Conventional wisdom, Corporate Counsel's View, Costs in Mediation, Cross-cultural, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, General, Mediation Users/Clients, Singapore, Stories, Success in mediation, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation

(National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law)/ /Leave a comment

The Singapore Mediation Lecture 2014 was delivered on 26 September 2014 by Mr. Brad Berenson, the Vice President and Senior Counsel for Litigation and Legal Policy of General Electric. The third lecture in this series, the Singapore Mediation Lecture is a result of a partnership between the Singapore Mediation Centre, the Singapore Management University School…

Business, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Confidentiality, Conflict, conlfict coaching, Conventional wisdom, Decision making, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Efficiency, Future of mediation, General, Impasse, Improvisation, International Mediation, mediation models, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, mediation traditions, Mediators’ Conduct, Mentoring, Negotiation, Scotland, Skills, Stories, Success in mediation, Tips, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /Leave a comment

I write here about two contrasting experiences which have, for me, underscored the richness of the mediation process. In one mediation, involving business partners with an ongoing management issue, one of the protagonists (A) suggested bringing in another partner (D) who was not perceived to be a part of the present problem, simply to observe,…

Bias, Conventional wisdom, Court Procedure and Litigation, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Future of mediation, Legal Issues, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation

(University of Strathclyde)/ /9 Comments

Intellectual life is beset by ‘gap’ problems. Philosophers wrestle with the ‘mind-body problem’: the gap between material and non-material aspects of human existence. All science can be construed as an attempt to bridge the gap between what is and what we can imagine: an inductive corrective to deductive supposition. Roger Cotterrell describes law’s gap problem…

Australia, Clients, Co-mediation, Commercial Mediation, Conventional wisdom, Future of mediation, General, Improvisation, mediation as a career, mediation models, Mediation Practice, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediators’ Conduct, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Skills, Training, Uncategorized

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /Leave a comment

The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was once asked why he continued to practice at the age of 90. “Because” he replied, “I think I’m making progress”. It is an extraordinary acknowledgement from a man widely regarded as one of the greatest ever cellists. Let’s be clear – Casals was a colossus in his world. Fritz…

Book Review, Business, Clients, Communication, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Dispute Resolution, Efficiency, Future of mediation, General, Lawyers, Lawyers and Psychologists, Legal Practice, Litigation, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Practice, mediation traditions, Mediators’ Conduct, Negotiation, Neuroscience, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Scotland, Skills, Social intelligence, Status, Transformation, Uncategorized, Understanding mediation

(Core Solutions Group)/ /2 Comments

I have been reflecting recently on the individual and collective professional journeys we all undertake – and on the different stages we reach. My reading has taken me to a thought-provoking book by theologian Richard Rohr, entitled Falling Upward. Rohr’s thesis, put very simply, is that there are two stages to life. The first, necessary,…

Causes of Conflict, Commercial Mediation, Conventional wisdom, Humorous Pieces, Stories, Tactics, Uncategorized

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /3 Comments

Story telling and humor are among the essential tools in any mediator’s kit. Of course, when it comes to humor, mediators learn early in their career that the self-deprecating variety is usually the safest choice. This turns out to be quite good for me since in my life there is no shortage of material to…

Appointment of Mediators, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Cross-cultural, General, insider and outsider mediators, Instinct, International Mediation, Mediation Practice, mediation traditions, Mediation Users/Clients, Neutrality, peace negotiations, UN and International Organizations, Understanding mediation, War Stories

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /3 Comments

Recently my good friend Canon Andrew White (aka “the Vicar of Baghdad”, as he is the Anglican priest at St George’s Church, Baghdad) convened a meeting of religious certain leaders from Iraq and Israel, bringing together senior Iraqi Muslim and Israeli Jewish figures in Cyprus for several days of talks about peace. It was by…

Commercial Mediation, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, Efficiency, Future of mediation, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), harmonisation of mediation law, Hong Kong, International Courts, International Law, International Legal Theory and Teaching, International Mediation, Lawyers, Lawyers and Psychologists, mediation as a career, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), mediation traditions, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediators’ Conduct, Memory and Illusions, Mentoring, Mistakes, Singapore, Standards, Status, Stories, Success in mediation, Switzerland, Understanding mediation, War Stories

(Brick Court Chambers / Clifton Chambers)/ /Leave a comment

Having last week returned to New Zealand from Singapore where I was honoured take part in the launch of the ICC Mediation Rules, I saw first hand the support for mediation in Singapore from powerful institutions like the Singapore Judiciary and the Ministry of Law. Singapore, and my guess is Asia in general, is in the…