Daily Archives: July 3, 2009

Mediation channel surfing: in a round-up of links, some tasty ideas to snack on

chipsFrom time to time for my non-Twittering readers, I round up the articles and news stories I’ve microblogged about on Twitter. Here’s the latest batch of tasty thought-snacks:

Do Generation Y and Baby Boomer lawyers need a mediator?

mediateI’ve written often here about the fault lines in the ADR profession – the deep rifts dividing facilitative and evaluative mediators, the line in the sand between attorneys who mediate and professional mediators who are not lawyers. These dividing lines damage our collegiality and pose harm to our credibility as dispute resolution professionals; if we are unable to face and address our own differences, how can we be relied upon to assist others?

Other professions are of course no strangers to such schisms. In fact intractable conflict smolders now between lawyers, rooted not in doctrinal or political differences but in generational ones. Adrian Dayton, a lawyer who publishes an eponymous blog, discusses its impact inĀ ”Candid exchange highlights a disconnect” in The Buffalo Law Journal.

After describing the rancorous arguing that has ensued between members of different generations of lawyers, Dayton, a Gen Y lawyer, observes:

What does that tell us? That there is a real conflict – and lack of understanding – on both sides. The biggest message I took away from it was that we’d better figure each other out – we’re going to be together for a while.

Dayton has thus signaled his willingness to bridge the generation gap. So what about his counterparts on the other side? No word yet. But if they need some assistance, the blogosphere’s full of mediators.

Mediation: not meditation, not medication, and definitely not arbitration

confusing apples and oranges - mediation is not arbitrationYesterday the New Jersey Star-Ledger reported that the state’s Supreme Court “OKs mediation in custody disputes“.

The problem with the story is that the New Jersey Supreme Court did nothing of the kind. Instead, it held that parties to a matrimonial action can submit questions relating to child custody and parenting time to binding arbitration (PDF).

Was this confusion in reporting the result of careless journalism? No doubt. But this also tells me that the ADR field still has plenty of work to do in terms of public education and awareness. Arbitration and mediation are not concepts to be used interchangeably. One is not a synonym for the other. They serve different purposes and produce different outcomes. And we need to help the public – our prospective clients – understand that.

Hat tip to Jim Melamed, Mediate.com‘s CEO.