Skip to main content

Can Mediation Turn Back the Clock?

Reverse clock with wooden frame isolated on white background

I’ve written before about what success means in mediation. Often it means a complete resolution of a dispute and the parties can go on their way, having saved lots of time, aggravation, and a bundle in litigation expenses. Even when there is not a complete resolution, mediation often resolves at least part of a dispute or helps the parties significantly lessen the amount of discovery needed as the case moves forward. However, can mediation undo what’s been done? Can it restore the parties to some kind of pre-dispute state of harmony?

Continue reading

Discovery

Wants Vs Needs - Sticky Notes

{4 minutes to read} I have written before about when is the best time to mediate. No, you don’t have to go back and re-read that blog because the answer is simple: Now. Now is the best time to mediate. 

Does that mean, now, now, or now with some lag time?  Ok, now with a little lag time. A party can’t mediate by itself, so there are by necessity some preliminaries, like getting the other side(s) to participate in the mediation. However, that is becoming easier as more courts increasingly direct the parties to mediation without waiting for an agreement. If you want to see a good example, look at the ADR rules for the Federal District Court for the Western District of New York or the rules for North Carolina State Courts and federal courts: Eastern District of NC, Western District of NC, and Middle District of NC.

Continue reading

Can a Mediator Really Like Everyone?

Grimacing mime with hands akimbo and mask on head

It’s not uncommon that parties to a mediation don’t like each other, though you can never predict beforehand.  I find that opposing counsel are typically at least cordial to each other and sometimes downright friendly.  Divorcing couples sometimes get along just fine during a mediation.  And I’ve been in situations where the clients, watching their attorneys bicker back and forth, take matters into their own hands and work out a deal between themselves.

Part of the mediator’s job is to be friends with everyone.  If you want to successfully push and cajole, it’s best that people think you’re their friend.  Usually, this isn’t too hard. 

Continue reading

Does Familiarity Breed Contempt?

Image of Last Will and Testament ready to sign

{3 minutes to read}  Estate battles generally lend themselves to great TV. No, what I really meant to say was that estate battles generally lend themselves to mediation. They take some unpacking since the issues that give rise to them are often years in the making. Maybe decades. There can be distrust, hurt feelings, greed, anger. There are in-laws whose membership in the family may be recent or of long duration. The parties often don’t want to be in the same room with each other, something that mediation – but not the courtroom – can accommodate. 

Continue reading

Where Is The Best Place To Hold A Mediation?

Image of a well used wooden picnic table in the park

{4 minutes to read} So, where is the best place to hold a mediation?  These days that question is a variation on the question, What should one wear to a mediation? (Answer: Anything from the waist up but be sure to keep your pajama bottoms on). 

I raise this question of locale because of two recent divorce mediations where the answer was: outside in a park or other semi-public place.  In each of these mediations one spouse walked around outside in a park that was sparsely populated.  In one, the other spouse also ended up going outside to talk.  Neither mediation suffered from this.  Indeed, they may have benefited since the outdoor participants felt comfortable, and both mediations were successful.

Continue reading

Let’s Sue the Bastards!

Image of man hitting his thumb instead of nail

{3 minutes to read}  One of the brighter aspects of economic activity in New York during the Covid pandemic was the ongoing construction activity that took place.  While buildings remained empty and ground floor retail spaces were withering from the lack of business, construction sites always seemed to be buzzing with activity.  Once the need for masks and social distancing was figured out, construction work began opening up much sooner than other businesses.  Of course, large construction projects are years in the making and financing is not contingent on last month’s revenues.  

Continue reading

Med-Arb

Hard red, green and white candy mints stuck in a ball

{4 minutes to read} There was a time when arbitration was hailed as the sliced bread of the dispute resolution world. Arbitration would be faster and cheaper than litigation, and more tailored to the needs of the parties. You could have experts in the field decide matters. Plus, it was private. As time went on, it lost some of its luster. Arbitration could be somewhat faster, but only somewhat. If there was a panel of three arbitrators, the fees could mount up, and scheduling could be difficult. The needs of the parties? Well, certainly if your side prevailed. But one of the cheaper, faster-selling points of arbitration was that decisions were final and binding. The losing side could not appeal. 

Continue reading

How Much Transparency is Too Much?

Stock Photo of man holding a sheet of clear plastic wrap

{4 minutes to read}  Transparency is one of those “good” words.  People favor transparency and tend to think of it in contrast to secrecy, which is often thought of as a “bad” word.  If you think transparency is preferable to secrecy, raise your hands.  Almost everyone raises their hands, except for those who smell there’s a trick follow-up question coming — which there is.

There used to be a time when large political donors couldn’t hide behind a wall of secrecy.  But really, shouldn’t the well-off be able to purchase the candidates of their choice without everyone having to know?  And wouldn’t limits on contributions be limits on our freedoms? Well, you know the rest of the story….

Continue reading

Seeing the Light

Open road on abstract screen against door opening revealing light

{3 minutes to read}  Wow, Daylight Savings Time. At last. Was there ever a time we needed some extra light more than now? Even though changing the clock doesn’t really give us more daylight, we all feel better when it’s still light out at 7 pm. Or later. Shedding light on things is generally seen as something good. It implies opening up and understanding. It’s also one of the great aspects of mediation. It’s why mediation works.

Continue reading

To the Zoomiverse and Beyond

William Shakespeare in period clothing sitting in school desk with laptop computer.

{4 minutes to read} I’ve written before about the Zoomiverse and mediation. So far, so good. No one has yet said: Boy, I can’t wait until we can all travel to and from a mediation and maybe have a client, or clients, fly-in only to find out that someone couldn’t make it at the last minute. Apparently, no one is overwhelmed by the benefit of sitting down at the table together, shaking hands, and exchanging angry glances with someone only a few feet away.

Continue reading

About Us

An honors graduate of Harvard University and the Cardozo Law School of Yeshiva University, where he also served on the Law Review, Gary brings more than 30 years of litigation and negotiation experience to his practice as a mediator. He has successfully negotiated and mediated resolutions in family matters, employment cases, commercial disputes, personal injury cases, and major civil rights matters.

Contact Us

Phone :- 347.314.2163
Email :- gary@shaffermediation.com