Deal or No Deal: Improving the Odds of Successful Mediation

I have posted before on Don Philbin's masterpiece The One Minute Manager Prepares for Mediation: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Negotiation Preparation published in vol 13 of The Harvard Negotiation Law Review and a serious piece of work.

Don is now conducting an hour long ABA teleconference and live audio webcast

Deal or No Deal: Improving the Odds of Successful Mediation on Tuesday, July 14 at 1pm Eastern (12:00 PM Central/11:00 AM Mountain/10:00 AM Pacific).

'The panel will discuss the results of empirical studies of decisional errors in litigation comparing last settlement positions of parties who failed to settle to outcome of trial as well as explaining who did better; who did worst; and what was the cost of the error. They will also describe the techniques, such as graphically depicted outcome scenarios, that can be utilized during mediation to overcome psychological barriers to settlement'

Expanding the Mediation Pie

Just posted today is Expanding the Mediation Pie by Michael Leathes, Director of The International Mediation Institute;

"As professionals gingerly tiptoe on the road out of recession, their travel bags need to be packed with new gear. Considered unfashionable in the past, the winds of economic hardship have blown in former style icons. Left on a hanger in the Old Economy are the hackneyed notions of “s/he who dares, wins”, “no risk, no reward” and Dum Pendet Rendet. Replacing them are 10 powerful drivers of politics,business and society - Responsibility, Transparency, Authenticity, Trustworthiness, Certainty, Competency, Humility, Sustainability, Simplicity and Frugality. If leading stakeholders in the field embrace them all, mediation will grow, everyone will gain." [read more]

IMI Registrations Top 1,000 Worldwide

July 1; IMI completed its Experience Qualification Path on June 30 2009. Over 1,000 experienced mediators from 35 countries took the opportunity to register on the IMI portal during the EQP period [read more].

The International Journal of Conflict Management is free all week

The International Journal of Conflict Management will be free to access online this week.

Simply visit the journal’s homepage and access the content through the table of contents.

Logo poll results

Thanks to all those who took the time to vote on my Old vs New Logo Challenge.

Here are the results.

Jeff Thompson even gave me some options - he's a clever cookie;

Dinosaurs walk amongst us

Today a lawyer told me to write him a letter as he did not believe in email.

He should watch this video played at Sony's Executive Conference this year.

By popular demand

I have had a number of emails about my last post where I mentioned a law firm breakfast I had last week to chat about 10 suggestions I had for lawyers heading into a mediation.

Here are the first 5;

I've just had a call from a lawyer with whom I have a large mediation coming up in late November.

She asked me what she could do to prepare her client John, for what is probably going to be the most important meeting of his life.

Apart from the usual prep like identifying interests etc I advised her to:

1. In the time between now and November try not to poison the well from which she will drink on mediation day - start 'mediating' now within the litigation

2. Prepare John to interact with me on a personal level. He needs to talk to me and should treat me as a confidant, not the enemy. Please trust me (or let me earn that trust)

3. Anticipate a predictable start to the negotiation where the other side asks for the moon and make sure John is prepared to respond in a way that keeps the dialogue going

4. Have John explain the personal side of the dispute to me, in front of the other side. Be prepared to do this early

5. Use me - make me earn my fee. Seek out my reaction to the story of the case and the negotiation moves that are unfolding. Give me a heads up on the negotiation moves John is contemplating - test them on me - I can often help

Thanks to my colleagues at the International Academy of Mediators

TheTriumph of Soft Skills

I sat in for a chat about mediation at a Big Law breakfast this week (juice, muesli, black coffee) and we talked about the evolving face of the new lawyer as well as 10 things lawyers should do in mediation.

They are on to it. They know what their clients are looking for.

Just like the wild, wild west, where eventually gun slingers became an endangered species, so too with one track lawyers.

Instead, we now need rounded skills and the youngsters I spoke to are well on their way.

As I said in a previous post;

"If you are a young lawyer under the tyranny of an old lawyer, do yourself a favour and read The New Lawyer: How Settlement is Transforming the Practice of Law underneath the desk during your lunch break (you get one of those, right?)"

See CPR's take on it

Mediation Logo

Having just posted my 1,000th post for your reading pleasure my dear reader, I hope I have earned the right to ask for something from you in return?

If so, would you please give me a simple thumbs up/thumbs down on this new logo I'm thinking of adopting (my old one appears at the bottom of this post);

[New Logo]

[Old Logo]

From Zero to Hero

I get my best insights into how lawyers see mediators when I occasionally share a ride to the airport with one of them after a mediation (yeah I know, but I always check with the group and then only if we have got a result).

Today, unprompted, my colleague shared with me and the cab driver that the most impressive thing about a mediator who's on their game is the ability to go from a standing start to 100kph on the facts that the lawyers have lived with for months - and once there, to apply some rigour before bottom-lining the big points to focus the parties on what's important to their decision some hours away; legal, factual and especially commercial.

My rather lame response, before letting him pay, was to admit to being a speed freak (just in case I was in his sample group, which he was not good enough to volunteer).