THIS WEEK IN MEDIATION – MEDIATE.COM’S 31st YEAR! –
July 8, 2026 – #1,146
Designing the Future of ODR: The ‘Centaur System’ and Role of Humans in AI
With Renee Jackson, John Lande and Morgan Tregenza – blog post by Jim Melamed
This session from the 2026 Global ODR Forum at Harvard addresses issues of “Designing the Future of ODR: The Role of Humans in an AI-Driven Era.” The panel explores the “Centaur System” concept, where humans and AI collaborate along a spectrum of control to enhance the mediation process. The speakers also showcase specific innovations, such as the RPS Coach for negotiation training and Dyspute.AI, an automated platform designed to improve access for high-volume, low-value cases. Key considerations include the importance of human-in-the-loop models, the necessity of ethical guardrails, and the potential for AI to reduce participant anxiety.
Navigating Modern Dispute Resolution: A Review of John Lande’s RPS Coach for Parties and Aspiring Professionals
By Jim Melamed
The Real Practice Systems Negotiation and Mediation Coach (RPS Coach) is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to help mediators, lawyers, parties, ADR program managers, educators, students, and scholars. It assists in preparing for and carrying out mediation work more effectively. It is designed to promote good decision-making by participants in negotiation and mediation as well as to support mediator education, training, and reform in various settings. Click here to Access RPS Coach.
Mediate.com Interview with Antonio (Tony) Piazza on July 29
“Lessons from 5,000 Mediations: Converting Dialectic Into Dialogue”
Join Mediate.com on July 29 at 1 pm EST (10 am PST) for an in-depth interview with Tony Piazza. Over the past 46 years, Tony has mediated the resolution of thousands of complex disputes throughout the U.S. and internationally. Join us for a conversation on how Tony has structured his mediation process to transform the reactivity in the room into resolution. Learn how Tony, and you, can access principals of the Japanese Martial Art of Aikido to dissolve resistance into discussion.
Systems View of AI Governance
By Robert Bergman
For most of the past decade, generative AI advanced on a simple recipe: make the models bigger, feed them more text data, and buy more computing power. The recipe worked so reliably that it acquired the name, the scaling laws. Then an industry built trillion-dollar plans around it. But recipes depend on ingredients, and several of the key ingredients are now running short. The question is no longer whether generative AI will keep improving, but what will constrain how fast, what cost and how it will be governed.
Consideration of AFCC and ICODR Standards for the Use of AI in Family Mediation
By Colin Rule and Jim Melamed
The landscape of dispute resolution has undergone a profound transformation, driven by technological advancements that were significantly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, two pivotal sets of guidelines emerged in 2025 to steer the ethical integration of technology and artificial intelligence (AI): the 2025 AFCC/ABA Model Standards for Family and Divorce Mediation and the ICODR/NCTDR Standards. Also note the more recent ICODR Guidance for Third Parties Using Artificial Intelligence. While the AFCC standards provide a broad, human-centric ethical framework specifically for family law, the ICODR standards and guidance offer a more granular, tech-specific deep dive into the unique risks and requirements of AI platforms.
New Video Course on Accelerated Workplace Dispute Resolution with Dr. Clare Fowler is now available!
Master skills to resolve workplace conflict before it escalates. Learn practical mediation, facilitation, coaching, and organizational strategies that create stronger teams and healthier workplace cultures. Recorded live in May 2026, this 7-hour intensive workplace training features Dr. Clare Fowler guiding you through today’s most effective workplace dispute resolution strategies. Earn 7 CLE/CEU credit hours while gaining practical tools that you can apply immediately. Mediate.com Members save 20%.
Dive into AI (2025) is a powerful seven-hour video training series at Mediate University focused on integrating AI into every stage of the mediation process — from intake and scheduling to invoicing, communication, and document management. The price is only $100, with a 20% discount for Mediate Members.
Further, Mediate’s new Dive into AI 2026 Consultation Group now meets bi-monthly (free for Mediate Members!), with our next meeting set for Wednesday, August 5, at 9:00 am Pacific, noon Eastern. Newly Available 2026 Deep Dive videos include: (1) June 3 Presentations by Bob Bergman and John Lande on the Anomalyzer Platform and RPS AI Coach; and (2) the April 14 Presentations by Clare Fowler and Colin Rule reviewing AI Developments at Mediate.com.
Register for the Dive into AI 2026 Consultation Group: Here.
Integrating AI into Family Mediation – New 2 Hour Video Now Available!
with Jim Melamed
This video presentation is from Jim’s May 2026 2-hour workshop “A Brave New World: Integrating AI into Family Mediation” presented to the Massachusetts Council for Family Mediation (MCFM). See the sample video and order here. Introductory price of only $49, plus Mediate Members save 20%. Also see Jim’s new Agreement to Mediate that Incorporates Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use.
AAA Magazine Featured Article:
Trust in Your Virtual Mediator
By Susan Exon
As a result of the COVID shutdown in 2020, the mediation field, like many professions, has become a flexible process. Initially, attorneys hesitated to engage in online mediation. Now, however, participating on a video platform appears to be the preferred method. As with an in-person mediator, a virtual mediator must develop a rapport with parties that enables the mediator to engender party trust. If the participants find a mediator to be trustworthy, they will trust the mediator enough to be candid, sharing valuable information that a mediator may use to uncover underlying motivations and interests and foster an amicable resolution. Mediators may be asking themselves whether it is more difficult to acquire trust online as compared to an in-person proceeding. A study conducted in 2018 shows that videoconferencing platforms enable parties to communicate and trust others to essentially the same extent as a face-to-face encounter.
Why the Best Business Relationships Have Nothing to Do with Business
with Susan Guthrie
The best business relationships have nothing to do with business. Not at the start, not in the room, not over coffee or at a conference. Phil Fornaro, attorney and podcast host, calls what he has built relationship capital, and with a client conversion rate approaching 100%, he has the results to prove that leading with the relationship instead of the business is not just a nicer approach, it is the smarter one.
Mediate.com Membership
Would you like to get more mediation cases by being in the world’s most used mediator directory and also be able to access all Mediate.com resources? Mediate.com Membership Benefits now include access to MediatorDojo, the Dive into AI Consultation Group, the Great Reads Book Club, and 20% off at MediateUniversity.com! See: www.mediate.com/Membership!
THIS WEEK’S MEDIATION NEWS:
TRAINING CALENDAR: