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Top Ten Things Not to Do in Mediation

By Simeon H. Baum
June 27, 2005

Mediation is widely used these days. Federal court mediation programs have been in place since the 1990s; the Supreme Court's Commercial Division has a thriving Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program; there are court annexed mediation programs for specific areas — matrimonial, family, criminal court community disputes, landlord/tenant, and small claims court, to name a few. Agencies like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and quasi-governmental entities like the United States Postal Service have longstanding mediation programs, as do self-regulating organizations like the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange.

Beyond those programs, there is a growing use of private professional mediation. Corporations with pre-dispute ADR clauses, insurers with inter-company agreements, and attorneys with cases on an ad hoc basis are regularly turning to mediators to help them resolve their disputes and save their clients the cost, disruption and aggravation of protracted litigation.

Given this burgeoning use of mediation, it is likely that most litigators, and many legal dealmakers, will find themselves representing clients in this process. It is thus imperative to understand the mediation process, its goals and possibilities, and to be effective in that process, understanding what works and what can abort the process and its positive possibilities. It is just as important to understand what not to do in the mediation process. Here is a non-comprehensive list of 10 choices counsel or parties might make that reduce the likelihood of arriving at a mutually acceptable resolution through mediation.

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