Tag: Dispute Resolution

Can Mediation Turn Back the Clock? – Construction

In my last blog, I addressed mediation turning the clock back and focused on divorce matters. What about other types of disputes?

Reverse clock with wooden frame isolated on white background

Several months ago, I mediated a case involving an upscale medical practice in a very upscale Manhattan coop building. Like most medical offices in such buildings, it was on the ground floor and had suffered from some flooding that the practice believed was the fault of some actions taken by the coop. The case was actually on appeal before the 2d Circuit so one side had already prevailed at the District Court. However, the mediation brought the two sides together for discussions that never would have happened had the parties simply moved ahead with the appeal. It turned out that both sides really wanted to figure out a way to live together since, in fact, they were going to regardless of who prevailed on appeal. Neither the building nor the medical office was going anywhere soon.

Where Is The Best Place To Hold A Mediation?

Image of a well used wooden picnic table in the park

{4 minutes to read} So, where is the best place to hold a mediation? These days that question is a variation on the question, What should one wear to a mediation? (Answer: Anything from the waist up but be sure to keep your pajama bottoms on).

I raise this question of locale because of two recent divorce mediations where the answer was: outside in a park or other semi-public place. In each of these mediations one spouse walked around outside in a park that was sparsely populated. In one, the other spouse also ended up going outside to talk. Neither mediation suffered from this. Indeed, they may have benefited since the outdoor participants felt comfortable, and both mediations were successful.

Hanging Up the Cleats

stock-photo of hanging football boots with cleats isolated

{4 minutes to read} So when is it time to hang up the cleats? Some pitchers or quarterbacks hit the wall at 30, others, far fewer, at 40. If you’re a gymnast (not that they wear cleats), forget it. Lasting past 25 can be a miracle. And when should a President hang it up?

My Sweet Lord

{3 minutes to read} These days, we might all wish for some divine intervention to help quell the pandemic. However, the Lord works in mysterious ways and even disputes of a religious nature can find their way into our secular court system.

Two Game Changers in Mediation

{3 minutes to read} Two enormous “game changer” mediation moments came back-to-back recently. Let’s start first with the local news. On May 14^th, New York State’s Chief Judge Janet DiFiore and Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks announced a systemwide initiative in which parties in civil cases will be referred to mediation as the first step in the litigation process.

This is a very big deal. While it won’t happen overnight, this will eventually establish New York as the nation’s leader in making mediation an essential component of dispute resolution in the courts. Hundreds of thousands of cases that previously would have cost gobs of money and taken years to resolve — with limited input from the actual parties — will now go to mediation and get resolved with direct input and participation from the parties, with far less financial and emotional cost.

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Tag: Dispute Resolution

Can Mediation Turn Back the Clock? – Construction

Where Is The Best Place To Hold A Mediation?

Hanging Up the Cleats

My Sweet Lord

Two Game Changers in Mediation

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