Author Archives: abfifer

Mediating the Presence of a Bible

October 20, 2021 – 10:23 am

Should a Bible be included in a display honoring missing veterans near the entrance of a veterans’ hospital? A veterans hospital in Manchester, New Hampshire, thought so, but two U.S. Air Force veterans objected. Somehow the dispute ended up in federal court, but now the parties have agreed to mediation. Too bad they didn’t try […]

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Update to 9/2/21 Post

September 23, 2021 – 4:45 pm

An update to my post of 2 September 2021, “Mediator Standards of Conduct Could Have Helped Here”: the mediator’s law firm has decided to withdraw from representing the one party in that case, thus removing the appearance of a conflict of interest. This means an appellate court decision on mediator conflicts of interest will have […]

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Mediator Standards of Conduct Could Have Helped Here

September 2, 2021 – 9:04 am

Where should lawyers seek guidance in determining potential conflicts of interest regarding mediation? Michigan’s Standards of Conduct for Mediators are an overlooked resource here. A recent case bears this out (Great Lakes Home Health Services Inc v Carolyn Ewing, lv gntd Michigan Court of Appeals Case No. 357907). Mr. Mediator, an attorney with the M […]

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Minimizing Mediator’s Own Liability

August 25, 2021 – 10:37 am

Should mediators include in their retention agreements a waiver of liability? This would be a clause along the lines of, “The mediator cannot be held liable for any act or omission in connection with this mediation.” A thoughtful article by Bill Quatnam just posted on Mediate. com suggests mediators should think carefully about this. The […]

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Sha’Carri Richardson Apology on Live TV

July 7, 2021 – 4:14 pm

The apology from athlete Sha’Carri Richardson on the Today show last week offers a glimpse into how hard it is to give a good live unscripted public apology. Richardson was banned from competing in this year’s Olympics in her signature event, the 100-meter dash, because she used marijuana before the qualifying event in Oregon last […]

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