Can one bad apple spoil the whole barrel? Not if you believe the Osmonds [please forgive the dated reference to pop music from days gone by]; if that bad apple shows up at a mediation in a sour mood and seemingly determined to derail discussions,...
Think back to the mid-1980s - if you’re old enough to remember them. Michael Jackson moonwalked his way into superstardom, the Breakfast Club taught kids everywhere that serving detention could give you a real education, and a fresh-faced articling student named Vance Cooper was eagerly...
Over the past 30 years working on personal injury and insurance claims - as a lawyer, arbitrator, and mediator - I have observed that settlement discussions in advance of mediation occur all too infrequently. Five factors which I believe contribute to the inability of those...
There is a common view that when mediation produces a settlement, it has been successful and, conversely, where mediation fails to produce a settlement, it has been a failure. Needless to say, mediators, us included, would prefer not to characterize a mediation which does not...
When you hire a roster mediator or have a roster mediator appointed, there is significant variability in relation to the mediator’s knowledge, experience and training. Roster mediators may be new to the market or they may be veterans in the marketplace. Can the mediator get...
In some judicial venues in Ontario [Toronto, Windsor and Ottawa], the parties must mediate in advance of the pre-trial conference. In all other jurisdictions, mediation is optional. 1. Don’t Mediate as a Matter of Course Direct settlement negotiations should always be thoroughly considered before proceeding to mediation. Mediation...