IAM Blog

Old Notes, Basic Science, and Understanding Disputes

By: Jeff Jury, IAM Distinguished Fellow “Thank God for Dr. Carley’s Integrated Science class at Rockford College,” I thought as I discovered some very old notes during year-end cleaning. They could have named the class (Very) Basic Real Science, So Political Science Majors Can Earn Their Science Credits.

Jan 22, 2019

Managing Litigation Risk & Decision-Errors: Mediators Working Inside the Culture of Litigation

More than ten years have passed since Randall Kiser and his colleagues documented how often and at what cost attorneys obtain a result worse than what could have been achieved by accepting their opponents’ pre-trial settlement proposal.

Dec 5, 2018

Strategy or Bad Habit? Avoiding Lawyers’ Most Common Mediation Pitfalls

You might think lawyers are trying to achieve bad outcomes in mediation, based on approaches like: 1. Insisting on keeping everything confidential from the other side, including not sharing the mediation statement with them.

Oct 26, 2018

The Naked Truth about Settling Sexual Harassment Cases in the #MeToo Era: The Public Interest in Disclosure v. the Private Value of Confidentiality

Times are changing and both employees and employers are taking note: In 2018, sexual harassment is not tolerated. Between the #MeToo movement and the #TimesUp phenomenon, cases involving sexual harassment are being settled in record numbers.

Sep 12, 2018

Can Med-Arb Avoid the Risk that Awards Will Be Annulled?

Mediation followed (if needed) by arbitration – so-called Med-Arb – sounds at first like a good idea: parties know that when they start the process they will end up with a solution, either: (i) the one they work out in the scope of the mediation phase, or failing that (ii) the one that will be imposed upon them in the second phase...

Aug 10, 2018

The Words We Use as Mediators

Words are the smallest elements that generate significant meaning. But to what extent do the words we use as mediators matter? At the recent International Academy of Mediators’ conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, we facilitated a session with an experienced group of mediators and tackled that very question.

Jun 29, 2018

Getting Past Impasse with Mediator Settlement Recommendations

I conduct mediations in the Province of Ontario, Canada, including employment law, commercial matters, personal injury and real estate. The majority of my mediations take place after the commencement of legal proceedings, and involve parties represented by lawyers.

May 30, 2018

The Suffocating Air of Superiority: Why Mediators Across the Practice Spectrum Should Practice What They Preach – Listen More and Judge Less

Mediation trainings and conferences present opportunities for practitioners and program managers to be exposed to new ideas and learn new techniques – at least in theory. At a recent conference, after a presentation about caucusing led by an attorney-mediator, a question was asked. Instead of responding to the merits of the question, the presenter asked, “Are you an attorney?”

Mar 26, 2018

Civility and the Mediation Process

Civility is more critical to the mediation process than to any other form of dispute resolution. The reasons are several: First, unlike trial and arbitration, success in mediation depends entirely upon adversaries agreeing. No agreement; no deal

Feb 16, 2018

Mediator as Ombuds

The word “ombudsman” comes from a Swedish term that dates back to 1809, when the Swedish parliament decided to protect citizens’ rights by establishing a supervisory agency independent of the government.

Feb 13, 2018