You Gotta' Dance With Them What Brung You

Today was a mediation within a mediation.

The trouble started in private but became public - lawyer and client disagreeing on the way forward.

What to do?

It's hard to sit by and watch when you 'know' you could help in your role as mediator.

Where Angels Fear To Tread : The Tricky Matter Of How A Commercial Mediator Shows Respect For The Attorney/Client Relationship

"Speak to any attorney and they will have views on what level of 'mediator intrusion' into their relationship with their client they are comfortable with. One of the biggest insecurities attorneys have with the mediation process, and more especially perhaps if the mediator has a legal background, is that the mediator will somehow usurp them and their role and have a disproportional influence on their client's attitude to resolution... in my experience, whilst attorneys may choose to engage me as a mediator, they don't want me taking control, even if that control is limited to process -- leadership maybe but outright control, no"