Daily Archives: January 16, 2005

As a soccer fan and a mediator, I was intrigued by a headline from the January 10, 2005, USAToday which read U.S. soccer players reject arbitration, propose mediation. Not surprising. While arbitration offers informality, privacy, and efficiency, making it an effective way to resolve disputes quickly, like litigation it produces win/lose outcomes which the disputing parties have no say in designing. Mediation, on the other hand, enables all sides to a dispute to negotiate together and produce results that will be fair and workable for everyone. The players score a goal for proposing mediation. I wish them all the best.