Construction Defect Litigators: Let Your Voice Be Heard in National Mediation Survey
I don't have the statistics but know from experience that construction defect litigators mediate their cases to settlement more often than, say, general commercial litigators (my background).
Earlier in the week, I posted a "Negotiation and Mediation Justice Survey" in this blog whose purpose is manifold.
- although justice and fairness issues are repeatedly raised in my mediation practice -- "s/he's extorting me" or "s/he victimized me," most of the mediators I've casually asked say "we're not in the 'justice' business, we're in the business of finally resolving disputes."
- SO I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LAWYERS WHO ARE REGULAR ADR USERS REALLY THINK ABOUT JUSTICE/FAIRNESS ISSUES IN NEGOTIATIONS AND MEDIATIONS.
Your Views on Optimal Mediator Practices.
As I was devising the survey, I decided to take the opportunity to get a good sampling of mediator and attorney attitudes toward standards of mediation practice.
So I put in some questions on the mediator qualities I've been told attorneys are looking for as well as those that I believe to be important, with an open-ended question to include anything I'd missed.
Here's the Problem
I've got wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy TOO MANY mediator responses and way too few attorney responses.
I really need to hear from YOU -- THE CONSUMER OF MEDIATION SERVICES.
Already, the results are surprising. I will share them with my readers (and with anyone who takes and identifies themselves at the end of the survey -- you may take it anonymously) in a couple of weeks.
I'm also writing a law review article (this is no idle threat, I have one published and one about to be published) on negotiation and mediation justice issues that will include your responses.
So I'm asking all Construction Defect Attorneys to let me know what they want and need from mediators in the hope that we can begin to have a national conversation between mediators and litigators about where we're meeting one another's expectations and where we're not.
It will be good for all of us. Please take the survey!
