Ben’s Statement Of Mediation Philosophy
Mediation serves the very useful purpose of bringing adverse parties to a safe, neutral and trustworthy process to facilitate a resolution of their dispute. I will not waste any party’s time in helping them resolve their dispute. Critically, I am a very direct communicator and relentless in my pursuit to achieve a resolution. I will always be extremely prepared and seek the necessary information from both parties to give them the best opportunity to achieve resolution.
It is integral that the mediator establish credibility, trust and confidence from each party to foster constructive communication toward resolution. My job is to identify and break down the pre-existing barriers which precluded meaningful dialogue from occurring. It is critical that the parties feel that they can comfortably and reliably express their needs and positions to promote constructive dialogue toward a mutually-acceptable resolution.
When the parties are beginning to lose progressive momentum, I implement my intuitive evaluative approach to provide the parties with my perspective to promote a better appreciation and understanding for what is driving their adversary’s motivation and position.
Based on my multiple decades-long success in my fields of expertise, my adversaries have complimented me for my objective sensitivity to their considerations and my ability to find areas where we can find common ground. Possessing this “disarming” attribute leads to so many resolutions and resultant respect from my peers.
Finally, and critically, mediation success cannot occur without the relentless commitment to close. In my experience as an advocate, who has participated in hundreds of mediations, my main complaint is that the vast bulk of paid mediation professionals do not “close” when it comes to prodding the parties to get to resolution. A mediator should be much more than an intermediary that simply conveys back-and-forth offers and the parties’ purported rationale/chest beating for same. I will close for my clients.