legal sanity

I’ve posted on mediation basics before. This article adds to the primer with an update on the topic of mediator style and orientation. For years, mediators and others have been mired in decoding and defining the major mediation models: facilitative, evaluative and transformative (among others). When asked about their work, mediators often feel compelled to place themselves in a particular style camp even though they borrow from, and meld, different models in practice. According to the piece, this foisting of style over substance may become passé under the New Grid System proffered by esteemed dispute resolution scholar Leonard L. Riskin of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. Allowing for a natural co-mingling of mediation approaches, “Riskin’s new grids [ ] focus on behaviors in the moment and over time rather than on labels that apply to the mediator throughout the mediation interaction.” This allows for more fluidity and enables mediation participants to engage at “a much more sophisticated level and with more control over the process – if they wish.” As a mediator who usually blends aspects of several mediation models, I welcome Riskin's break from formality. In my experience, there's no one "right way" to mediate. And there's no need to be exclusive since the different mediation styles mix very well together without losing their individual strengths. Participants only benefit from a process infused with the flexibility that this kind of versatility affords.