Standard I of the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators is entitled "Self-Determination" and admonishes us that "a mediator shall conduct a mediation on the principle of party self-determination." It then defines "self-determination" as" …the act of coming to a voluntary uncoerced decision in which each party makes free and [Read More]
I was watching Grey's Anatomy the other night when an implicit bias crept into the story. One patient was a black woman in need of a kidney transplant. She explained to her new doctor that she did not qualify for a transplant because her algorithm used to determine qualification for [Read More]
In Mediation Ethics: A Practitioner's Guide edited by Omer Shapira (ABA 2021), Bill Eddy contributes chapter 8 entitled "Dealing with Difficult Parties" (pp. 165-185.). Mr. Eddy defines a difficult party as “… someone who demonstrates some or all of the following in the mediation process: exaggerated emotions, adamant directives, attacking [Read More]
I always thought ethics was ethics. But evidently, there are two types: macro ethics and micro ethics. According to Wikipedia, Macro ethics is a term that was coined in the 20th century "… to distinguish large-scale issues from individual ethics or micro ethics. It is a type of applied ethics". [Read More]
One of the most important aspects of mediation is self-determination. Standard 1 of the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediation is entitled "Self-Determination." It provides that a mediator shall conduct a mediation based on self-determination which it defines as the "act of coming to a voluntary uncoerced decision in which [Read More]
Mediators are supposed to avoid conflicts of interest. According to Standard III of the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators (2005): …[a] conflict of interest can arise from involvement by a mediator with the subject matter of the dispute or from any relationship between the mediator with the subject matter [Read More]
In May 2019, I posted a blog discussing the creativity of lawyers and "out of the box" thinking. On behalf of their client Alison Patricia Taylor, the lawyers sued the City of Saginaw, Michigan under 42 USC § 1983 (violation of civil rights) by chalking her tires in violation of [Read More]
In a recent post, I discussed a book I just finished reading, The Power of Ethics by Susan Liautaud (Simon and Schuster, New York, NY 2021). While Professor Liautaud made many interesting points, her definition of "ethics" caught my attention: "For centuries, we have shared common expectations of how we [Read More]
