Forum Overview :: Dead Trees
 
Re: going into business as a Mediator by Mischief Maker 05/16/2012, 7:54pm PDT
jeep wrote:

I don't know anything about lawyering v mediating or whatever. California is a big lawyer playground so you may as well come out here to try it. No reason not to ask around if regular lawyers don't have their own mediator maybe they'd like to have one on-call

I assume you mean mediation like as a written step in contract dispute resolution?


Well Mediation is one of the big 3 forms of alternative dispute resolution out there right now. There's direct negotiation between the parties, there's arbitration (judge judy play-court with binding decisions), and then there's mediation. The point of mediation is for the parties to use the interest-based negotiation method, a superior alternative to the standard haggling method everyone knows. It's faster, makes for smarter decisions, can lead to win-win solutions, and won't harm any existing relationship between the parties. The downside is it's really complex compared to haggling, and just keeping the method running smoothly is a job in itself, besides actually looking out for your own interests. Hence the need for a 3rd party neutral Mediator to guide the parties through the negotiation process while they put their full attention on getting what they want.

The thing with California is, because of their state budget problems over the past years, money for courts has been tight and waiting lists have been getting longer and longer. Businesses began turning to ADR and it's turned out to be a big hit, so there's a mature mediation market there. Here in Wisconsin the mediation industry is very much in its infancy, though in a twisted kind of fortune for me, that could change if Walker isn't recalled, or if Barrett and the democrats pull an Obama and never get around to undoing Walker's budget. I'd rather stay in Wisconsin because global warming has been much kinder to us over the past years than the rest of the country.

Another term for "thinking like a lawyer" is "functional pessimism."

jeep wrote:

I have always wondered how people get those jobs. Like what do you go through with someone where he's like "yeah I'd trust this person to guide a dispute over $1M in payments to resolution in a fair way"


You start by volunteering and getting an assuring number of cases under your belt, then you do partial mediations, like mediating a mutually agreeable discovery plan between the parties in a civil case, then move on to full case mediations, like divorce and child custody dispute, then finally you gain a strong enough reputation that people trust you in the $1M+ corporate contract cases.

Or you become a judge, get fired, and gain the coveted "retired judge" status which automatically gives you cred. Grr...
PREVIOUS NEXT REPLY QUOTE
 
The E-Myth: The most depressing book ever written in human history. by Mischief Maker 05/15/2012, 4:24pm PDT NEW
    McDonalds doesn't care about a fry cook leaving to start their own burger joint. by They care about product consistancy 05/16/2012, 12:51pm PDT NEW
        Didn't say anything about non-compete contracts. by Mischief Maker 05/16/2012, 1:26pm PDT NEW
    did you ever take an accounting class? by jeep 05/16/2012, 1:20pm PDT NEW
        Not going into business as a Lawyer, going into business as a Mediator. by Mischief Maker 05/16/2012, 1:32pm PDT NEW
            going into business as a Mediator by jeep 05/16/2012, 5:02pm PDT NEW
                Re: going into business as a Mediator by Mischief Maker 05/16/2012, 7:54pm PDT NEW
        Agreed. Back in a former life, I used to work for a bunch of guys... by Fullofkitttens 05/16/2012, 1:37pm PDT NEW
            I do appreciate these stories, btw. NT by Mischief Maker 05/16/2012, 1:41pm PDT NEW
 
powered by pointy