November ADR Tip of the Month
These practice tips are drawn from the ADR Section's November 10 CLE "Mediation Orientations... Can They All Be Right?".
With special thanks to Minnesota CLE, Aimee Gourlay and Jim Coben, we were able to bring you "pictures of practice."
Tips to keep in mind:
- How a mediator describes mediation and opens the mediation, will have a big impact on what follows.
- As a mediator, it is important to pay attention to the parties -- not just their attorneys.
- Mediators approach cases with their own assumptions. Though they may adjust their approach to the case, the greatest factor in how the case is mediated is who the mediator is.
- The idea of party self-determination is understood very differently by different mediators. For some, it means that the parties can always refuse to settle if they want, while for others it means that the parties should have control of the entire mediation process.
Tips submitted by discussion facilitators Sharon Press and Dan Simon.