In teaching mediation, I discuss the notion that mediation is a process of change, and like all changes, it takes time. It is often a slow process because it entails transformation. The mediation session is a transformation: it transforms one’s thinking. A party will walk into the session thinking one thing and having a particular viewpoint, and through the process of give and take, of conversation with both the mediator and the other side, a party’s initial thinking changes. She realizes there is more than just her way of viewing the situation. She will look at the problem from the other party’s perspective or perhaps “consider the opposite”- suppose she is wrong and the other side is right. She will hear a discussion about the weaknesses of her position and the strengths of the other side’s position. Through this slow process, a party’s thinking is changed and transformed, and miraculously, a compromise can be reached in a manner that the parties thought would never occur at the start of the mediation.

I bring this up because this is almost what happened in a recent mediation. It was a lemon law case. The defendant looked at the repair history and focused on the brakes as the main reason for the lawsuit. However, the plaintiff had a different focus: she looked at all of the different repairs taken together and the many number of days in the repair shop as the reason for wanting the vehicle repurchased. It was not just the brakes; it was everything taken together and all the time spent in the shop!

The fact that the plaintiff and defendant were focusing on different things as the reason for the lawsuit did not become apparent until he mediation, in which each side discussed with me their view of the case. When I realized that the counsel were talking past each other, I pointed this out to them, which prompted a discussion about the best way forward. It was decided that the defense would re-review the repair orders and the case in general based on this new and different perspective, and hopefully make an offer to settle the case in the coming days.

I do not know if the case will settle. But what I do know is that this mediation acted as an agent of change, changing the perspective of the case on both sides.

… Just something to think about.

-------------------------------------

Do you like what you read?

If you would like to receive this blog automatically by e mail each week, please click on one of the following plugins/services:

and for the URL, type in my blog post address: http://www.pgpmediation.com/feed/ and then type in your e mail address and click "submit".

Copyright 2021 Phyllis G. Pollack and www.pgpmediation.com, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Phyllis G. Pollack and www.pgpmediation.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.