{"id":311,"date":"2015-04-22T13:36:24","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T17:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/?p=311"},"modified":"2021-04-19T16:01:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T20:01:06","slug":"jons-ten-biggest-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/jons-ten-biggest-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon’s Ten Biggest Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jon March is a seasoned litigator with the Miller Johnson law firm in Grand Rapids, who has built a successful practice as a mediator. He published at article\u00a0in the ADR Section January 2015 newsletter<\/span> entitled, \u201cMy Ten Biggest Mistakes as a Mediator,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and he\u2019s given presentations on this topic; I heard one yesterday at the Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many mediators can relate to the mistakes Jon mentions. We\u2019ve all had moments when we\u2019ve said something that betrayed our neutrality; we\u2019ve seen potential agreements fall apart because we failed to appreciate that a person of influence wasn\u2019t present in the room; and we\u2019ve all faced the dilemma where at least one party doesn\u2019t want to stick around to sign the written agreement ending the mediation. It\u2019s somehow comforting to know that mediators as experienced and successful as Jon March have similar regrets. No doubt Jon has done so well because he learned from each mistake, and now we learn from him.<\/span><\/p>\n

The one \u201cmistake\u201d that I think could be turned into a positive concerns the joint session. Jon describes a mediation where plaintiff\u2019s attorney really wanted a chance to address opposing counsel at the start of the mediation; against his better judgment, Jon agreed to let this happen. As Jon feared, opposing counsel used the opportunity to rip the plaintiff to shreds, souring the settlement potential. Jon\u2019s conclusion is that opening statements by lawyers are fraught with danger, and should be permitted only under special circumstances, if at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than omit them, a better way to avoid the dangers of lawyers\u2019 opening statements is to prepare the lawyers beforehand. Get them to think about their goals, their audience, their opportunities. While there are risks, I\u2019ve seen lawyers\u2019 openings set the stage for a productive mediation, because each client gets to evaluate opposing counsel and the strength of their argument. If there\u2019s been no discovery, this may be the client\u2019s first chance to size up opposing counsel. It\u2019s an opportunity to hear and clarify differences in facts and law. And it\u2019s also a chance for each client to gain confidence and trust in their own lawyer. Even if there is no discussion after the lawyer\u2019s openings, and the parties proceed to caucus, the mediator has much more to work with than if the parties never heard the other lawyers\u2019 opening statements. <\/span><\/p>\n

I admire Jon for making his mistakes so public. And I thank him for helping us all learn from his mistakes.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jon March is a seasoned litigator with the Miller Johnson law firm in Grand Rapids, who has built a successful practice as a mediator. He published at article\u00a0in the ADR Section January 2015 newsletter entitled, \u201cMy Ten Biggest Mistakes as a Mediator,\u201d\u00a0and he\u2019s given presentations on this topic; I heard one yesterday at the Dispute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learnings-from-mediation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":312,"href":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}