Mediation Blog
Imbalance of Power
Over the last several months, Congress has been struggling to reach a consensus on infra-structure legislation with a concurrent reconciliation bill. Because the Senate is evenly divided, a delicate balance of power exists to the [Read More]
The Known and the Unknown
   At a February 12, 2002, news briefing, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld explained the limitations of intelligence reports: "There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know [Read More]
Overriding Self-determination
I will never understand why people go to mediation (and pay lots of money to a mediator) when they are not prepared to settle. I had another one of those mediations recently that went nowhere [Read More]
Court Ordered Mediation and Informed Consent.
Standard I of the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators is entitled "Self-Determination" and admonishes us that "a mediator shall conduct a mediation on the principle of party self-determination." It then defines "self-determination" as" …the [Read More]
An Implicit Bias with Deadly Consequences!
I was watching Grey's Anatomy the other night when an implicit bias crept into the story. One patient was a black woman in need of a kidney transplant. She explained to her new doctor that [Read More]
Difficult People
In Mediation Ethics: A Practitioner's Guide edited by Omer Shapira (ABA 2021), Bill Eddy contributes chapter 8 entitled "Dealing with Difficult Parties" (pp. 165-185.). Mr. Eddy defines a difficult party as “… someone who demonstrates [Read More]
