The Disappearing Jury Trial and Other Insights for Mediators
Thirty years ago this past week, I walked away from my partnership in a San Francisco litigation firm to develop a market for a decidedly different approach to dispute resolution, a process called mediation. As I’ve recounted hundreds of times in the decades since, the genesis of my career shift was fueled by dissatisfaction with […]
A Dent in the Universe
As we approach the August 7th 2019 United Nations Convention and signing ceremony promoting international settlement agreements resulting from mediation, it is timely that we pause to reflect on the many and significant strides that have been made around the world toward promoting the use of mediation to resolve conflict. As Steve Jobs famously said, […]
Heroes and Capes
On March 18, 1997, 3 years after the Rwandan genocide officially ended, the Interahamwe militia from the Democratic Republic of Congo entered the Nyange Secondary School in western Rwanda as part of their murderous rampage and ordered the students to separate, Tutsi on the left and Hutu on the right. The students replied that there […]
Rebecca Westerfield, Making People Feel Comfortable
One of our exceptional Edwards Mediation Academy instructors is Rebecca Westerfield. Rebecca has been mediating for over 22 years and has settled and arbitrated over 2,500 cases throughout the United States and internationally. One of the qualities I most admire about Rebecca is her wonderful way of making people feel comfortable and understood. On becoming […]
Making Peace Our Business
“It took me and my team four days of road travel, mostly off road through deserts and rocks, to reach this border entry point to receive refugees who arrive here after walking, sometimes for weeks, eating tree leaves, roots and wild fruits on the way, to survive. Most of them arrive in desperate physical and […]
Top Tier Professionals at Edwards Mediation Academy
Edwards Mediation Academy online courses are taught by acknowledged experts and pioneers in the commercial mediation field. Our students have the unique opportunity to learn from the world’s leading commercial mediators. There is no other way for aspiring mediators to gain the depth and breadth of knowledge provided by EMA courses. Our students come away […]
Effective Client Representation in Mediation
Many attorneys ask the question, “What does it mean to effectively represent a client in a mediation?” During the mediation process, a client’s attorney may need to fill the roles of process designer, client counsel and traditional advocate. This post examines these multiple roles and offers practical advice on how the client’s attorney can most […]
Taking Dispute Resolution to all Corners of the World
Just wrapped up the 7th annual Weinstein Fellowship training in San Francisco, CA. For those that aren’t familiar, this program was started by a generous grant by JAMS panelist Dan Weinstein to find individuals in distant parts of the world that are motivated to change their community’s approach to conflict and dispute resolution. It is […]
Expanding the Vision of ADR
While hard to imagine, it was less than 25 years ago that alternative dispute resolution and specifically mediation, was still a nascent concept, unknown to most in the mainstream legal community. Yet, through the energy, vision and entrepreneurship of many, ADR has brought about a paradigm shift in our legal profession. Today, mediation and its […]