Preparation

Mediators frequently complain that parties to mediation do not come sufficiently prepared to reach a settlement. But preparation is a two-way street. Mediators also need to prepare for each session. I prepare by reviewing any information sent to me by the parties, as well as reviewing my mediation training. Some of the things I have learned are recorded in my previous posts. Recently, I have read two excellent articles that help refresh me before each mediation encounter.

The first comes from FINRA’s current newsletter. (You don’t have to be FINRA arbitrator or mediator to subscribe.) The article contains nine tips for a successful mediation. One of those tips is to “be prepared,” but following all of the other tips is the best preparation.

The other article comes from the ABA and discusses 10 things lawyers love and hate about mediators. According to the author, one of the things lawyers love is when mediators prepare beforehand. Seems obvious, but again the other items listed in the article provide fertile ground for preparation by a mediator.

If you are a mediator and have any favorite lists that help you prepare for a mediation session, please leave a comment and let me and my readers know what they are.

Arbitration v. Mediation: Statistics

FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) administers both mediation and arbitration programs for securities brokers, agents, and customers.  Their recently reported statistics for the first part or 2010 show an increase of 106% in new filings for mediation and a decrease of 25% for arbitration.  New arbitration case filings still outnumber mediation requests by about 7 to 1.  FINRA also reports that 85% of mediation cases closed with a successful settlement, an increase of about 5% from historical FINRA mediation settlement rates due in part to a multi-case mediation coordinated by FINRA, which settled a large group of cases.  The average case turnaround time was 88 days.

Statistics like this are difficult to come by.  If anyone knows a good source for similar statistics in other arbitration and mediation programs, let me know.  Without such information, generalizations about filing trends and settlement rates are impossible to make.