Most of my regular readers know I almost never have “war stories” of my mediations on this blog. The primary reason why is confidentiality. When my clients enter a mediation, they have an absolute expectation that what is said in the mediation room stays in the mediation room. They do not expect their dirty laundry to be aired over the internet, even if carefully camouflaged by changing or omitting the names of the parties. This level of confidentiality also makes it harder to market mediation. How can I easily explain mediation by example? There are plenty of law and court based television shows, but almost no mediation shows.
The Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO) does an excellent job of marketing mediation. To this end, they have produced an excellent video on different types of mediation. The mediations feature actual disputants who have waived their confidentiality privilege and touch on different areas of mediation (commercial/business cases, divorce, family, community and peer [students in school]). The common misconception about mediation is everything sitting around a campfire singing Kumbaya and wondering why we can’t all get along. While most mediations are civil, the reality, as you can see in the video, is that mediations often involve difficult discussions, difficult decisions and facing the issues directly with your adversary. The results of the process are usually a better relationship — even if it means ending it on better terms.
The video is in .wmv format and can be viewed by clicking here.
Please contact me to find out is mediation is right to resolve your divorce, family and elder issues or commercial dispute.