Few mediations run in the way they are expected to from beginning to end. Many throw up issues and situations which were largely unexpected. There will be bluff and counter-bluff, ‘bottom lines’ and ‘red lines’, ultimatums and walk-outs, threats and promises, and possibly tears and laughter. Some behaviours will be genuine and ethical, whilst others purely tactical and utterly unscrupulous. They invariably create difficult dilemmas and require challenging decision-making on the part of both clients and their legal advisers – as well as the mediator. Skilled and psychologically-informed mediators will have met these scenarios many times, and will understand the drivers and motivations that lie behind such conduct. But to the parties and their lawyers, such situations can be deeply unsettling.
This seminar will contain a full mock mediation of a dispute concerning a family business, involving both family and commercial issues. It will raise some of the difficult situations mentioned above, and will enable the audience to interact with the role-players and the mediator, and gain some valuable insights into how these problems can most effectively be handled, for the best possible outcome.
SEMINAR SCHEDULE:
Introduction to the problems
Paul Randolph
Mock Mediation
Mediator: Paul Randolph
Role-players: Timothy Carlisle, Spenser Hilliard, Angela Hodes, Michael Gleeson
Q&A
Close and Drinks