The Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes (Directive on consumer ADR) obliged Member States to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with said Directive by 9 July 2015. Today we should hence be celebrating…

Writing a post in the aftermath of what happened on Friday, the 24th of June 2016, is an opportunity to reflect on what it takes to conduct an effective mediation process, and above all a constructive dialogue. Clearly this post is an insight on my own personal reflections to date. With the weeks ahead, I…

“Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar” “Traveller, there is no path, the path must be forged as you walk.” Antonio Machado, as quoted and translated in Daring Greatly, Brene Brown Those were two very long and eventful days. Though the prospect of reaching an agreement appeared remote – at best – at…

Recap Last time I wrote as a young mediator about my mediation path, I had just arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia. It was February 2014, when people began being killed at the Euromaidan on Independence Square in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. I was trying to ‘break into the peacebuilding field‘ but did not have much…

[A talk given at the recent “100 cases” event in Glasgow to celebrate two years of small claims mediation provided by Strathclyde Mediation Clinic. Judges in Scotland are known as “sheriffs”.] I’ve been rather enjoying my belated return to the small claims court. Like a kind of slow theatre, each Friday afternoon unfolds with impeccable…

We would like to announce an opening for the position of Associate Editor for the Kluwer Mediation Blog (KMB). The Associate Editor will report directly to the editors Bill Marsh and Nadja Alexander, and work closely with the Kluwer team. The essential duties of the Associate Editor are (1) collecting, editing and reviewing guest submissions…

Three recent mediations in three jurisdictions raised some interesting issues.  Each mediation was different. One involved a claim for professional negligence against a firm of solicitors for (allegedly) incorrectly including an occupied building in the sale of a large piece of land. The sellers were unhappy that many years had elapsed since the transaction, a number of them passing while…

This post was prepared in cooperation with Bogdan Matei. Neutrality is one of the keystone concepts in the mediation process. When the mediator or the parties consider that the mediator’s neutrality is affected, a conflict of interest appears. It is well known that when a conflict of interests appears, in respect to the ethical rules…

Wherever we look, there is a variety of articles, blogs, keynotes and workshop topics all talking about the necessity to develop future leaders, understand the next generation(s) and attract the right talents. The mediation profession is no exception. With this article, I am encouraging every reader to actively develop and shape the future generation of…

“Three-to-one that we will smash you in the court…” said a lawyer self-confidently. He was sitting in my mediation room and his client, a party to a neighborhood mediation, was obviously happy with having him chosen. The conservatively dressed young lady representing the counter-party hit back at him: “You must be kidding me! You will…