OM Thinking

How to Irritate Your Mediator! Mediators need to be unflappable in the face of the many ups and downs in a negotiation. We determinedly remain impartial and treat all participants even-handedly. But we are human and, whilst we may not show it, we do of course do find certain behaviours more irritating than others. Those

Disclaimer: This article is a bit tongue in cheek, but as I sat down to write something for the Mediation sector, I thought that an A-Z might be quite interesting. A: Audacious This one did make me smile when I looked up the dictionary meaning as “Daring, bold and with a confident disregard for personal

We are pleased to announce that the David Poole Memorial Award for 2020 has been awarded to Marie Clarke for her essay in response to the question ‘Critically evaluate the use of mediation and/or ADR in an international jurisdiction of your choosing’, written while a third year LLB Student at Coventry University. Marie has now moved on from

With face to face mediations not possible and court cases further delayed, online mediation has never been more attractive. Many of OM mediators use Zoom technology, with which many people will already be familiar. Zoom enables the mediator to set up an online meeting, including private “breakout” rooms, closely simulating the physical arrangements in a

On the evening of Tuesday April 2nd OM staged a mock mediation at the offices of Blake Morgan in Oxford. The event, which was hosted in association with the Oxford Construction Group, was attended by experienced mediators as well as those new to mediation. The role play involved a dispute between shareholders in a company,

In March we were proud and delighted once again to recognise a promising mediation student by presenting the David Poole Memorial Award to Sana Mansur, currently a third year LLB Student at Coventry University. Our picture shows Sana Masur, alongside her tutor Harriet Lodge and Head of Faculty Professor Stephen Hardy, receiving the award from

It is very often worth telephoning your mediator before the mediation day for an introductory discussion. All discussions with your mediator, including this one, are confidential between you (unless you chose to authorise disclosure of any matter). Your mediator’s task is to provide a process, which is neutral, to enable the parties to explore the

“Getting to Yes” (Fisher and Ury’s seminal negotiation book) argues that “Principled Negotiation”, or win-win negotiation, is how you maximise value for all parties in negotiation. We are encouraged to “separate the people from the problem”, “focus on interests, not positions.” and “invent options for mutual gain”. By doing this we avoid the evil outcomes of

As in any field, pre-planning will optimise your chances of success so before any mediation, time spent in preparation will usually be well rewarded. You will want to consider how best to capitalise on the opportunity the mediation offers you to get the settlement you want. One of the main things you can do, is

Mediation is not like a game of poker, but there can be similarities. In mediation as in poker, people do not always tell the truth. In my experience, bald lies are rare in mediations and different factual accounts are usually the result of failed memories, poor observations or honest differences of opinion – unlike poker.