As I reported back in 2006, a group of mediators in Massachusetts, designating itself the MassUMA Working Group, has been meeting to discuss the adoption of the Uniform Mediation Act (”UMA”) by the Commonwealth.

The UMA speaks to the relationship of mediation to the courts, and addresses mediation confidentiality and evidentiary privilege, together with exceptions to privilege.

In an effort to encourage public input and participation in discussions concerning the UMA and its impact on mediators, lawyers, and others, the MassUMA Working Group has turned to digital technology and the internet, launching the MassUMA Blog at www.massumablog.com.

One of the Working Group’s subcommittees, which has been meeting to explore the definition of mediator and mediator training, has just posted its findings regarding the current Massachusetts mediation confidentiality statute and the UMA, and is asking for public comment on its recommendations regarding how the UMA, if adopted in Massachusetts, should define “mediator”.

How “mediator” is defined is a matter of great consequence. Under current Massachusetts law, M.G.L. ch. 233, § 23C, a mediator is defined as “a person not a party to a dispute who enters into a written agreement with the parties to assist them in resolving their disputes and has completed at least thirty hours of training in mediation and who either has four years of professional experience as a mediator or is accountable to a dispute resolution organization which has been in existence for at least three years or one who has been appointed to mediate by a judicial or governmental body”.

This means that in Massachusetts mediation communications are privileged only if the mediator meets the prescribed conditions. The UMA on the other hand defines a mediator simply as “an individual who conducts a mediation”, providing greater reassurance to parties valuing the candor and confidence mediation promises that mediation communications will remain out of evidentiary reach.

The MassUMA subcommittee, however, has other plans. If the UMA is adopted in Massachusetts, what the MassUMA subcommittee proposes is

preserving the essence of MGL Ch. 233, § 23(c) with respect to mediator definition, training, professional experience and accountability, with the addition of clarifying language.

For more information about the implications of the recommendations of the Mediator Training and Definition Subcommittee for mediation practice in the Commonwealth, and a discussion of why in my view those recommendations are misguided, please read “In weighing the Uniform Mediation Act, Massachusetts mediators may be poised to repeat mistakes of the past“, published both here and at Mediate.com.

To weigh in, visit the MassUMA Blog and add your views.

It’s been such a busy month that my third anniversary of blogging, January 10, 2008, passed unnoticed. I completely forgot until now.

That is partly due to the attention that my blog’s move to a new home required, as well as the demands of work. And among the tasks involved in that move was the slow sorting-through and creation of categories for over 650 posts, the product of 36 months of blogging.

Among my archives I discovered several posts that reminded me why I continue to blog — some thoughts I’d like to share with you as I look back on three years.

Blogging of course is an effective marketing tool, one reason why many businesses and entrepreneurs are drawn to it, as my friend and fellow New Englander, Tammy Lenski, reminds readers today in asking an important question, “Is blogging a good mediation marketing strategy?”

Blogs are also tools for gathering and disseminating knowledge and information. In a post from June 2005, “Five reasons why ADR professionals should be blogging“, I argued that blogging may make you smarter:

Successful blogging requires research. So bloggers surf the web, cruising for news. We’re Internet blood-hounds, tracking down the elusive scent of stories that will pique the curiosity of our readers. That constant prowling alerts us to stories, trends, breaking news in our field—and even in fields that have nothing whatsoever to do with our blog’s focus, which, I would argue, makes us well-rounded individuals.

But blogging by nature is designed to connect not just ideas but people — for me blogging’s greatest appeal. As I wrote in November 2006, “Get the connection: building your network through blogs“:

Although I have made many contacts the old-fashioned way—through personal introductions, conference attendance, and committee work–nothing has connected me to the world around me faster or more dramatically than blogging has succeeded in doing.

Blogs bring people together like no conference or convention can. It allows for conversation in a multitude of ways.

Here’s one: Publish a post and instantly the whole world hears your message. But this is no one-way conversation–because most blogs permit reader comments, the world can talk back.

Here’s another: Another blogger reads your post. Intrigued by the viewpoint or links you shared, he or she riffs on what you’ve written and links back to you, amplifying the conversation. Suddenly your voice is joined by someone else’s. Other bloggers chime in and the chorus of voices grows.

Here’s another: Someone discovers your blog. One of your posts has sparked their imagination or triggered questions. They email you to tell you. Or they email you a link to an article they think you’d find interesting. Or they email you just to say hello.

With a little encouragement, these conversations can ultimately give rise to meaningful connections–to collegiality, to inspiration, to collaboration. These connections, as I have happily discovered, can produce discoveries, insights, and, most rewardingly, friendships.

Contrary to popular belief, blogging is not a solitary activity. It is joyfully, boldly public.

You can shout into the canyon and hear your own voice echo back.

But wait and shout again, and you will hear other voices rise in greeting.

That, more than any other reason, is why blogging remains such an essential part of my professional life. It is the collegiality, the friendships that have sprung up across geographic distances. It is the pleasure of mutual discovery, of interests shared. It is the sparks struck and the ideas that ignite when viewpoints collide.

Here on the web, what matters most: Only connect.

Thanks to all of you for sharing some or all of those three years with me.  I’m glad you were here.

Just a few stories spotted in my travels around the web that piqued my interest and hopefully yours as well, dear reader:

In a new twist on the old maxim, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” The Illinois Trial Practice Blog has advice for new lawyers: learn from people more experienced than you — like your opponent.

Robert Ambrogi at Legal Blog Watch reports on the results of a first-of-its-kind video contest sponsored by the State of Texas Bar, Lone Star Stories: Texans on Justice. The contest rules were simple:

Create a three-minute-or-less video that captures your vision of the importance and value of the justice system in our daily lives.

You can view the winning videos at Youtube. Ambrogi’s favorite? “Like Justice for Chocolate“. Mine, too. Go see for yourself.

China Law Blog has advice on cultural awareness in business contexts that can be boiled down to four blunt words: “Don’t Be An Asshole“.

That’s also the workplace advice from Bob Sutton as he reports on the results of a study that indicate that when people are treated rudely, their performance suffers.

It’s advice, if followed, that could put mediators and lawyers out of business.

Science Daily explains how “The Mind And Body Together Lean Toward ‘Truthiness’” — in other words, “the more ambiguous an answer to a question, the more likely an individual will believe it is truthful”.

Finally, Cognitive Daily reports on “What you know, and how it’s different from what you remember” — it’s not just a linguistic difference.