Find Mediators Near You:

Taking a Fresh New Look at Conflict

The New Year is a great time to push “refresh” on all subjects. I spent the last week going through my (now adult) children’s closets and getting rid of the things that we will no longer return to: huge computer systems with no screens or monitors, outdated televisions which can’t play cable, the expensive, must-have tennis shoes that every boy needed in High School a decade ago. I also took the last week or two to purge old paper work (as my son says–no modern businesses even use “file cabinets” these days).

And so I am ready to begin the year “fresh” and in doing so, to look at my mediation cases differently as well. I have listened to the discussion on “self-determination” and bringing back the joint session and intend to at least offer the opportunity for my clients to engage in an informed discussion about the design of the mediation process itself, not merely the outcome. I also hope that when my lawyer/readers return to their offices in this New Year, they too can take a step back to see which cases cry out for litigation and which demand mediation: a chance to engage a fresh set of eyes and ears to offer a third perspective which may be different from the adversarial and dyadic view held by only two sides of a conflict.

In what ways does this New Year bring you fresh perspectives on conflict?

                        author

Jan Frankel Schau

Attorney Jan Frankel Schau is a highly skilled neutral, engaged in full-time dispute resolution. Following a successful career spanning two decades in litigation, she has mediated over 700 cases for satisfied clients. Ms. Schau understands the nuances of trial and settlement practice as well as client relations and balancing the… MORE >

Featured Members

ad
View all

Read these next

Category

Effective Strategies for Managing Conflict at Work–webinar

Conflict Remedy Blog by Lorraine SegalEffective Strategies to Manage Conflict with ConflictRemedy.com's Lorraine Segal Unresolved conflict can affect productivity and satisfaction at work. While it is human to have disagreements,...

By Lorraine Segal
Category

Philosophy of Mediation

The philosophy of mediation is a present-day subject and of interest among the specialists in the Alternative Dispute Resolution field. The first paper at world level dedicated to this subject...

By Zeno Daniel Sustac
Category

The African Promise

Indisputably Diversity in ADR is an important topic of late.  For example, it has been the subject of numerous conversations on listservs, at conferences, and between in-house and external counsel. ...

By Hiro Aragaki
×