Our Italian correspondent, Avv. Giorgio Grasso, has prepared a useful report on the reintroduction of mandatory civil and commercial mediation in Italy. The new legislation -- replacing a 2010 version that prompted a lawyers' strike and was declared unconstitutional in 2012 -- amends the scope of the original scheme and is...
An interesting presentation on dispute prevention was featured at the recent UIA World Mediation Forum in Prague. The presenters demonstrated that project managers, not lawyers, may be the best equipped to save time and money by avoiding disputes. ...
There seems to be a presumption that being a mediator implicates public policy, and that the practice of mediation needs to be somehow regulated for the public good. In my region, for example, one must demonstrate training, skills or both in order to be listed on various court-annexed mediation panels. At...
During a recent meeting of the Dispute Resolution Committee of the ABA Business Law Section, GE Oil & Gas Assistant General Counsel Mike McIlwrath shared some cogent and stimulating -- and personal -- observations on the responsibility that corporate end-users must take for the process of international arbitration. Soon after...
The ADR Committee of the ABA Trial, Tort and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) sponsors a periodic series of telephonic programs on the Psychology of Conflict Resolution. The programs are organized and moderated by San Francisco mediator Elizabeth Bader, a professional of wide-ranging gifts whose friendship I and many others value...
The 18th gathering of the World Forum of Mediation Centers was held under the auspices of the Union International des Avocats in Prague, Czech Republic, on June 7-8, 2013. Mediators and Centers came from the U.S., Canada, Algeria, Iraq, Bahrain, Ireland, France, Czech Republic, Greece, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Lebanon,...
Royal Dutch Shell Legal Director Peter Rees and CPR Institute President Kathy Bryan have co-authored a very good article called "How to Manage Disputes in a Flat World." Much of its appeal lies in its emphasis on management of risk rather than resolution of disputes. And its premise is compelling: Business...