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Parties are often anxious about joint meetings, and try to avoid them. This is completely natural. It takes some courage to go into the room with the person with whom …

Practitioners are taught that there are certain things that are part of the mediation process, one of which is the exchange of position statements. There is however no legal or …

The overall aim of a mediation is to reach a settlement. The strategy that the mediator will use will depend on whether he or she is an ‘evaluative’ mediator or …

Costs are often a serious obstacle to settlement, even where everything else can be agreed. This is frequently because parties mediate so late in the day and get bogged down …

There comes a point in some mediations when the parties start to despair of ever reaching a settlement. This is often when sugar levels start to drop in the afternoon. …

Even after over 13 years as a mediator, there are still new experiences. I recently conducted a mediation where two very able and experienced property litigation partners in two prestigious …

Negotiating with the devil! Can you settle with someone you believe to be a crook? This was a focal point in a mediation I conducted last year, and also has …

Often parties in property disputes rely on experts of the same discipline and the experts are invited to the mediation. The question then is, what is the most effective way …

You think you have prepared well for the mediation – think again. Jacqui Joyce looks at what is actually helpful. The usual scenario Provide the mediator with all the documents …

I did a mediation last week that went like a dream. I’m not going to claim any credit – well not too much! It was the parties and their representatives …