I found this article on Parkour and Conflict Management by Anastasis Pryanikova particularly thought provoking for practitioners of Alternative Dispute Resolution and well worth sharing.

Conflict Coaching is about assisting individuals to identify their own patterns of behaviour when in conflict and those of the other person. With this awareness they can then choose new and constructive ways of responding to resolve a conflict and achieve their preferred outcome. Neuroscience provides fascinating insights into how our minds work when we experience conflict which is an essential part of the knowledge base for mediators and conflict coaches.

I participated recently in an excellent teleseminar “Rewire Your Brain to Speak Your Mind: Neuroscience Insights for Conflict Management,” presented by Anastasia Pryanikova, and hosted by The International Coach Federation Conflict Management Coaching SIG, Chairperson Cinnie Noble.

In her article on Parkour and Conflict Management, Pryanikova states :

…. “Parkour is a means of reclaiming what it means to be a human being. It teaches us to move using the natural methods that we should have learned from infancy. It teaches us to touch the world and interact with it, instead of being sheltered by it.’ This need for self-expression, human connection and meaning is also at the core of conflict management.’

She makes many more connections between the two in her article which is well worth the read and can be found on her website, ‘ The Brain Alchemist‘ ,which contains many more articles and is an interesting resource for those interested in this area.

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Rachel appears to take a very practical, well informed and excellently articulated view of the do’s and don’ts in this situation. She breaks it all down into five areas that need attention while going through a relationship separation:

1. Looking after yourself
2. Looking after the needs of your children
3. Using alternative dispute resolution
4. Litigating wisely
5. Dealing with your financial affairs

As a barrister and mediator Rachel highlights the benefits and effective uses of both litigation and mediation and gives great insights into what lies ahead for people as they take this road. Rachel also discussed the idea of mandatory information sessions for parties as recommended by the Law Reform Commission and experience elsewhere in the world in this regard.

She gave an excellent interview and portrayal of mediators and the mediation process in this interview and I suggest it merits a listen. Well done Rachel. I look forward to reading your book and I will definitely recommend it to my clients.

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The introduction of a Mediation Bill will help to give expression in Ireland to the importance of a non-adversarial method of handling disputes which can result in positive outcomes for business and private individuals alike.  Every mediator has a responsibility to engage in discussion, debate and dialogue in relation to our vision for the future of mediation and its practice in Ireland. Where possible we must seek to influence these developments helping to shape the practice and delivery of mediation in a way that ensures its accessibility, and protects its standards and essence.

We look forward to the introduction of the Mediation Bill, hopefully later this year and by extension the greater awareness and use of mediation as a means of resolving disputes.

See below for further details …

Minister Shatter secures Government approval for the general scheme of a Mediation Bill which is published today

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence Mr. Alan Shatter, T.D. announced today that he had secured Government approval for the general scheme of a Mediation Bill which is published today.
The Minister said “The Mediation Bill will give effect to the undertaking in the Programme of the Government for National Recovery (2011 – 2016) to encourage and facilitate the use of mediation to resolve civil, commercial and family disputes.”

The Minister added “The general objective of the Bill is to promote mediation as a viable, effective and efficient alternative to court proceedings thereby reducing legal costs, speeding up the resolution of disputes and relieving the stress involved in court proceedings. I am anxious to ensure that individuals and companies engaged in a dispute regard resolution of their dispute through mediation as preferable to court litigation.”

The General Scheme builds on the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission in their ‘Report on Alternative Dispute Resolution – Mediation and Conciliation’.

The Minister said that he wanted to highlight the following elements in the proposed Bill:

· the imposition of a statutory requirement on solicitors and barristers to inform their clients about the possibility of using mediation as an alternative means of resolving disputes prior to commencing court proceedings;

· a requirement that all communications between parties as they try to resolve a dispute using mediation shall be confidential;

· it will remain for the parties themselves to decide whether to engage in mediation and, indeed, to decide on the terms of any agreement arising from the mediation;

· the provision of a statutory basis for the courts to invite parties to consider the mediation option and to adjourn court proceedings for the duration of the process.

The Minister said that he intended forwarding the draft Bill to the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Justice, Defence and Equality for their consideration. Any views which the Committee submitted would be taken into consideration prior to finalisation of the Bill for publication.

The Minister is asking the Committee to revert to him no later than the 1 June next.

The Minister said that he wanted to make it clear that “this Bill is not intended to replace existing systems for resolving disputes outside of the courts system such as those operated by the Employment Appeals Tribunal and Labour Court in the employment field and the Residential Tenancies Board in relation to landlord and tenant disputes. Instead, the Bill seeks to integrate mediation into the civil justice system as a mainstream alternative to court proceedings. ”

The general scheme of the Mediation Bill is available on the Department of Justice and Equality website: www.justice.ie

1 March, 2012

ENDS
Appendix

The Programme of the Government for National Recovery (2011 – 2016) contains the following commitment:

“We will encourage and facilitate use of mediation to resolve commercial, civil and family disputes in order to speed up resolution of disputes, reduce legal costs and ameliorate the stress of contested court proceedings.”

The proposed Bill will:
· introduce an obligation on solicitors and barristers to advise parties to disputes to consider utilising mediation as a means of resolving them and, where court proceedings are launched, requires parties to proceedings to confirm to the court that they have been so advised and have considered using mediation as a means of resolving the dispute;

· provide that a court may, on its own initiative or on the initiative of the parties, and following the commencement of proceedings, invite the parties to consider mediation as a means of resolving the dispute;

· provide for the suspension of court proceedings in such cases to facilitate the mediation process;

· contain general principles for the conduct of mediation by qualified mediators, including an obligation on mediators to provide information on their training and experience to parties to the mediation;

· provide that communications between parties during mediation shall be confidential;

· provide that the parties to the mediation determine among themselves the enforceability of any agreement reached during the mediation process;

· provide that the costs of mediation must be reasonable and proportionate and not linked to the outcome of the process;

· make specific provision for the involvement of children in mediation in family law disputes;

· provide for the introduction of codes of practice for the conduct of mediation by qualified mediators.

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The Law Reform Commissions’ Report  forms part of the Commission’s Third Programme of Law Reform 2008-2014, makes over 100 reform recommendations and also includes a draft Mediation and Conciliation Bill.

For full details see: http://www.lawreform.ie/news/report-on-alternative-dispute-resolution-mediation-and-conciliation.318.html

The new High Court rules provide for a mechanism similar to the type used successfully and extensively in the Commercial High Court proceedings since 2004, whereby a judge can order the parties to engage in ADR. The provisions specify that the refusal or failure without good reason of a party to participate in mediation or conciliation may be taken into account by the court when awarding costs

For details see: http://www.courts.ie/rules.nsf/SuperiorAmdLookup/No99-S.I.+No.+502+Of+2010:+Rules+Of+The+Superior+Courts+(Mediation+And+Conciliation)+2010

In her opening address to the recent MII Annual Conference, 6^th November, the MII president Karen Erwin called on Government Departments, local government, state agencies and semi state bodies to introduce with immediate effect, a policy that mediation be actively and positively considered as the default position for dispute resolution. She highlighted the resulting savings which could be made which echoes recommendations made by Mr Colm McCarthy and the An Bord Snip Nua Report and others.

For full details see: http://www.themii.ie/full-article.jsp?id_news=205

These developments go towards preparing the way for a significant growth in mediation and alternative dispute resolution in Ireland in the coming years. Those of us who believe in the fundamental justice of alternative dispute resolution which is accessible to all, have an obligation to participate in debate and discussion on how that will be provided. There are many challenges related to the above changes being introduced and a variety of opinion, thought and experience which need to be considered.

This is a challenging but exciting time in Ireland at a time of great change. We believe that mediation and all forms of alternative dispute resolution can play a significant part in a new form of citizenship and economic recovery.

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How often have you heard yourself say ‘you ALWAYS do that’ or ‘he NEVER listens’ or ‘ I don’t like confrontation’ etc.. etc..

We each have a Conflict Dynamics Profile (CDP) and it can be illustrated using assessment tools.  In our ‘Understanding Conflict Dynamics’ training course on the 10^th of December, we are using the ‘CDP –Individual’  assessment tool as a means of providing participants with insight into how they individually respond to conflict.

Once participants obtain an awareness of their own current profile, we will then be working through numerous conflict management skills and techniques. These are designed to enable participants intervene in the destructive conflict patterns they have identified and to replace them with constructive responses and outcomes.

Conflict Dynamics Profiling has been developed by the Centre for Leadership, Eckerd College, Florida, USA.  Amicus works in partnership with the Centre in the assessment of participants.

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Over the last month, I have attended a conflict coaching course. Rebecca Keatinge from the office attended the course with me. I felt it was important that two of us from the office attend this course because it is more important than ever that lawyers in particular explore other ways to resolve conflicts that arise in the course of people’s lives. Law and the legal system should be very much a last resort and it is gratifying to see the emphasis being placed on forms of mediation and conflict resolution by the legal profession generally.

I found the course extraordinarily useful and inspiring. What I propose to do from now on is that every new client who comes to the office who feels they might benefit from our newly acquired expertise in this area, will be offered this service.

The benefit of this new service is that we will take you through step by step why this particular conflict has arisen and what steps you can take to resolve the conflict other than by way of the legal system. It may not be possible to avoid legal proceedings but at least you will feel that other avenues have been explored in detail so that if legal proceedings do have to issue then they will genuinely be a matter of last resort.

We are happy to offer this new service to our clients both old and new and I am completely confident that it will be of enormous benefit.

KEVIN BROPHY
BROPHY SOLICITORS
Parliament St., Dublin

www.brophysolicitors.ie

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This course trains coaches using the CINERGY® Model of Conflict Coaching which is used by Amicus. On this recent course we had participants from various backgrounds, legal, management, mediation and life coaching. One of the apparent aspects of this mix of participants is the flexibility of conflict coaching as a tool in so many different walks of life. It provides practical skills for people who need to manage interpersonal conflict or deal with people who are experiencing conflict or disputes in their lives.

All participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the course, in particular the fact that they acquired a great deal of learning, new skills and perspectives in relation to conflict and how to manage it.

Amicus now provides an ongoing practice development programme for all trainees who complete our conflict coaching training and for any others wishing to join us.

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• The broader perspective helps you develop options for coping in a different way

• You work through your selected option(s) to the point that you are confident in tackling the problem and getting the results you desire
Your conflict coach is your champion who will work with you over a period of time to support and assist you as you move to a new level of skill in the art of conflict management.

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Are you:

• Immersed in a conflict at work or in your private life that you feel overwhelmed by and don’t know how to handle?
• Unable to sleep or stop thinking about an individual you are in conflict/dispute with and find it impossible to find a solution
• Constantly feeling upset or down about a conflict/dispute you are in and cannot seem to see a way beyond it

These are all good reasons to consider talking to a conflict coach who can help you to handle what may seem impossible by yourself. Most people find immediate benefit from coaching and on average attend for four to six sessions. Conflict Coaching can also be provided over the telephone which can be very convenient, avoiding travel and disruption in a busy schedule.

Remember our thought of the week:

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle Plato

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by Holly Hayes

U.S. Politics Today reported that in Connecticut, “as of July 1, the presiding judge over a medical malpractice case must refer the case to a 120-day mediation period or other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process ‘before the close of proceedings.’”

The stated purpose of the new statute which mandates mediation in medical malpractice cases is to achieve a “prompt settlement or resolution of the civil action.”  The hope is that cases with very clear liability issues or those that are not meritorious to begin with can be settled before incurring the expenses of a trial.

While there are some critics of the new law, it appears there is consensus that it will not resolve “big-ticket” malpractice cases.  The new law may help avoid protracted litigation during the resolution of smaller cases, however.

In August, we reported on an American Medical Association (AMA) survey of 5,825 physicians about medical liability lawsuits that said:

The majority of lawsuits never made it to the courtroom, according to 2008 data from the Physician Insurers Assn. of America (PIAA), a trade group representing liability insurance companies owned or operated by physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals.

Sixty-five percent were dropped, dismissed or withdrawn. About one in four claims was settled, and 4.5% were decided by alternative dispute mechanism. Of the 5% that went to trial, defendants won in 90% of cases, the PIAA said.

But fighting a claim is costly. Defense against a claim averaged $22,163 for suits dropped, dismissed or withdrawn, and more than $100,000 for cases that went to trial, according to PIAA data.

Let us hear from you about mandating mediation in medical liability cases

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