Mediation Helps Parties Take Control
Recently,Law.com, reported that New York had established statewide guidelines for the qualifications of court-appointed mediators and neutral evaluators ("N.Y. Court Establishes First Statewide Guidelines for Mediators, Neutral Evaluators"). The story was by Joel Stashenko of the New York Law Journal.
Law.com rightly reports that this is a “coming of age” for alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
The story brought to mind a court-appointed mediation session I was involved with for an employment matter that occurred on the same day and just before I attended a seminar on mediation. The mediation session seemed an utter failure and that put me in a negative mindset throughout the seminar.
A few months later, the case settled on terms basically similar to those recommended by the mediator.
One of the points emphasized in that seminar is that mediation (and settlements in general) put the parties back in control. They decide what they will concede or agree to. By contrast, in a litigated resolution, the court decides who will win or lose and to what extent the parties will win or lose.
That was a good lesson to learn. Another good lesson was that the positive effects of mediation may not be immediate. It may take some time for the parties, who have a deep emotional commitment to their positions, to absorb the points made in mediation. After time for thought, and reinforcement by the attorneys on each side, the mediation can be very successful.
