Last week I got to experience part of a mediation!
Mediation: "intervention in a dispute in order to solve it"
Basically, the two parties in the dispute came to the firm with their lawyers (not necessarily from Dickinson Wright who was hired to do the mediation). The parties (there ended up being about 20 people there total) are placed in different rooms and the mediator (an attorney) goes from room to room trying to negotiate for them and settle at least some aspects of the dispute. I cannot give specific details of the case since it is all confidential unlike a trial. The mediator is a completely neutral party (the Switzerland of the case) that just tries to make the two sides agree. This is very similar to an arbitration. The difference is that an arbitrator acts as a judge and makes a decision if the parties do not agree. If a dispute is not settles in mediation it often moves on to arbitration before trial if it comes to that. I thought that this was very interesting and that being a mediator would be difficult. Personally, I think it would be hard for me to stay neutral, especially if I agree with one side more than the other on the matter.
Anyways, I never thought I would say that it is hard for me to watch a lot of TV, but it is proving very difficult. I am way behind on my shows and am thinking about watching less than 4. Furthermore, the shows are proving less important to this project than I thought they would be.
I am going to a fascinating bankruptcy hearing tomorrow and can't wait to tell you all about it!
Until next time,
Isabelle
When watching the mediation, which room did you stay in? or did you follow the mediator as he or she talked to both sides? Either way, it seems like you are getting a lot of great experience!
ReplyDeleteI followed the mediator from room to room. I'm glad I decided to do this as originally I was going to stay in one room as it allowed me to see the two different sides to the case.
DeleteDid the two groups come to an agreement? I think this would be a really difficult job for myself as well. Personal bias would definitely come into play.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't know if they came to an agreement because it was an all day thing and I was not there until the end. I do know that they agreed on a few things and what to do moving froward.
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