Ester Soriano - March 2008 Voice of Experience
What advice do you have for those entering the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution?
- Take the basic mediation course. If you can take more than one (local bar association or law school, or a local community or government training), you will be able to compare and better understand the differences between mediation, facilitations, styles, as well as find there are customer focus approaches (i.e. construction, youth, real estate, insurance, community, family, employment, court connected/small claims,)
- Do not quit your day job. It may take 2-3 years for a mediation practice to be established. Use that time to partner with other mediators, volunteer to do cases in the community, be creative in marketing your services.
- Do not expect immediate gratification in a rush of clients when you receive your mediation training certificate. Certificated trainings that have with a practicum will give you the critique you need on how you apply what you learned in training.
- Join and actively engage in local, state, and national ADR organizations to learn about the field, not just your personal interests, but to learn the depth and breadth of the field. Networking with a ”variety” of practitioners to get many ADR perspectives will give information to analyze, sort out, and even cultivate areas in which dispute resolution services can be created.
- Know the processes like facilitation, conciliations, arbitrations, and research the openings or job offerings or bids for individuals or program that want the communication skills of a neutral.
- Be creative in cultivating the volunteer experience into a needed service. Some areas could be: Municipalities, local chambers of commerce, nongovernmental organizations, school districts, bar associations, parks and recreation, small industry, large industry, conflict resolution focused programs. Cultivate a “ways and means” for funding.
- Mediator fees are not yet synonymous with legal fees.
- Consider practicing law with the use of mediation skills but try not to mediate practicing law.
- Recognize your professional cultural discipline(s) that affects how you will practice as a neutral. Understand the cultural behaviors (aka baggage) you are transitioning from that are not part of a neutrals role.
- Take advantage of mentoring programs or partnering with experienced practitioners who would be willing to provide an “externship.”
How has ADR changed you?
Over the past 20 years, my whole approach and demeanor has changed when I deal with adverse situations. I can do the “60’s” hand on the hip posturing but don’t have to. I learned that it is important to understand why a person does or says something, not to necessarily agree or disagree but to understand.
As jury foreperson on the Rodney King Federal compensatory trial, mediation and facilitation skills helped bring civility and process to the discussion that helped the jury come to a consensus. It was not conducted like other 11 jury services I had participated where everyone wants to be Judge Judy.
I’m not a practicing mediator. I prefer facilitation and have done facilitations and assisted in training with the City of Los Angeles Days of Dialogue Race & Race Relations. Through the America Speaks network, I was selected to facilitate at Listening to the City-New York after 9-11, New Orleans Recovery & Rebuild – 2005 and 2006, and National Dialogue on Health Care.
What excites you about the field of ADR?
The process is so simple in concept but difficult to apply. I love the people who have taken the time to help others embrace the work. It’s the passion and commitment of so many in the field that make the difference in the world they touch. I’ve seen the process work with large contentious groups as well as with a circle of friends.
What areas of concern do you have that we need to work on in the field?
Diversity and inclusiveness is not an accident or a gesture. It is a conscientious effort to make it a reality. When the cultural/ethnic diversity is not represented (though “good intentioned” organizations or “self-proclaimed” ethnic individuals speak for all) exclusion continues to be a practice.
It is important that understanding and accepting the diversity of a profession’s culture (legal, family, community) and work toward inclusion.
It is important to understand Cultural Competency as enhancing ones ability to be an even more effective neutral with any community or group of people.
It is important for practitioners in ADR organizations actively and consciously develops inclusionary programs, modeling through diverse panels and partnerships.
ADR is broader than most people realize. Depending on the lens of the person’s professional culture, silos of sort have developed. It is a challenge for practitioners to understand or respect other fields of ADR practice.
What is your favorite ADR success story?
We had a situation where a group of Skinheads had threatened to bomb a well-known African American Church. At their trial, the judge ordered them to attend a session with members of the church as part of their community service. It was co-facilitated by two non-profit organizations. After 3 hours of intense discussion, the skinheads were in tears, apologizing for what they had intended to do, not knowing the people or lives that it would have affected. It was an amazing result considering neither party would have imagined they would ever come together.
Sheila Purcell – June 2007 Voice of Experience
Do you have advice for those wishing to get started in the Field?
Consider serving as a volunteer at a community mediation center or on a local court, bar or ADR organization committee. You can test where your strengths and weaknesses are while providing valuable help. Reflect on what skills come naturally to you and what roles best suit your personality.
For me, though I am aligned with mediation values I wanted my work to have a fairly wide impact. I gravitate toward policy work and organizational development issues, and some might say I am rather directive by nature. I find developing programs and managing people compelling, and generally prefer to leave mediating to others whose gifts include great patience with individuals.
Consider how you might evolve a portion of your current job into a conflict resolution role. This may take some real initiative but by introducing these concepts into your work you may be able to expand the range of the ADR field while still securing a paycheck.
The Field needs many more bridge-makers, not just the neutrals themselves, but case developers, program developers and administrators and anyone who can help people consider ADR and find the right neutrals.
As a program director and developer what challenges and opportunities do you see facing the ADR field?
There is the ongoing challenge of finding funding. This forces “opportunities” on us- we strategize creative “work arounds.” We have excellent community partners in the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center, PCRC, and the San Mateo County Bar Association. We developed a strategic plan that relies on their help on our Oversight Committee. PCRC is a non-profit mediation and conflict resolution service and has provided volunteers for our two juvenile programs (dependency and delinquency) as well as input on the design and functioning of our other six programs (probate, family law, small claims, judicial arbitration, complex litigation and civil ADR). The local bar provided funding for my first year’s salary and its members have been key in many of our programs’ advisory committees.
These collaborations have been a great opportunity for us to grow as court. We see different approaches modeled by the community mediation center and we benefit from the very practical advice of the local bar association members.
Challenges abound. Somehow we need to remain in touch with the underpinnings of our work. To me this means, among other things, keeping mediation services voluntary (even when the volume increases), including non-lawyer neutrals on panels, and providing a genuinely different options within the legal system. We are currently looking at how to be more understandable and available to pro pers, reaching out to the people in our system that are representing themselves, many of whom are non-English speaking.
What has made this field stay attractive to you over these many years?
Encouraging the exchange of ideas, meeting people, or situations that require versatility, letting my curiosity take hold of a problem and trying to solve it – this work is sustaining. I have appreciated the help from others I have received over the years. In turn, I like sharing what’s worked/what hasn’t through efforts like Co-Chairing the Section’s Court ADR Program Advisor’s, CAPA, project. We match an experienced court administrator/advisor with a court looking for help in starting or advancing their ADR work. I have enjoyed traveling to other counties, states and countries to help people and courts with this work. The earnest, probing and often unusual questions of foreign visitors, court administrators and judges keep me energized. ADR work can translate across cultures and legal systems because it is so full of common sense.
I feel fortunate to be working on a fairly manageable scale, in a supportive and receptive court and community. I thrive on teaching and learning from my colleagues around the country and internationally, while helping my local court and community.
As someone who has worked in a variety of settings- Bar Association, Community Mediation and Court settings- do you see things differently than those working in private practice?
We work in partnership with all those groups- interfacing with the private ADR world and reaching people where they naturally go when they are in conflict- the court. It’s a public service and is not strictly business driven.
Non-monetary mediated outcomes, like those often found in our “restorative justice”, work where a young offender meets with the victim and takes responsibility for making things right, can be gratifying. While some cases are routine others can be fairly serious. For example, we had drug related death caused by the failure of two 14 year old girls to get their friend to a doctor in time for desperately needed medical treatment. After many tears, the mediated agreement involved the surviving girl’s sister agreeing to pair up with one of the offenders, (after completing the terms of her probation) to go to schools and other venues to speak to the dangers of the drug Ecstasy and to promote mediation. It’s rewarding to help people get their lives back on a productive track. It is not always simply helping money to change hands.
What accomplishments or stories do you draw on as you look back over your career?
It is gratifying to see the blossoming of programs, organizations and individuals (such as former students or employees) who I have helped and encouraged along the way. I appreciate the wider impact of our work when I see our programs and practices replicated and adapted to other settings and even in other countries. I take responsibility for the problems along the way but the accomplishments belong to the great teams we have built.
It is long enough now that I can see that one accomplishment can be the underpinning for the next effort. Patience and persistence do manifest in whole systems changing and evolving. Participating and shaping public life can matter. Sometimes it’s a bit of a burden but mostly its exciting- in a slow motion kind of way! I recall a series of meetings where a senior, respected committee member was not convinced of the need for something I thought was crucial. I kept working on it and reporting good results and eventually the work spoke for itself. Another committee member quietly commented after one of many meetings, “It’s a good thing you never hear no!”
Lela P. Love – March 2007 Voice of Experience
For people wanting to be a mediator, how do you get started?
I would recommend that anyone wanting to become a mediator follow these steps:
- Find out what mediation panels exist in your community. Is there a local community dispute resolution center? Do high schools or middle schools have mediation programs? Do the courts or bar associations have panels of neutrals? Is there a branch of the American Arbitration Association that is looking for neutrals? For example, in NYC there are Community Dispute Resolution Centers in each Borough; there are a variety of mediation programs in schools; the NYC and NYS courts use mediators in the commercial, family, civil and small claims parts; the federal courts have panels of mediators; the Bar Association has mediation programs for attorney-client fee disputes and coop/condominium disputes; the American Arbitration Association and the SEC have a variety of panels for neutrals. All of these programs offer training programs, and some of them offer mentoring programs for apprentice mediators. If you can get training with an opportunity to serve that follows it is most rewarding.
- Find out what the best training programs are for your particular interests. There are now training programs all over the country. You will want to find a trainer with a reputation in the field and connections to areas of practice that interest you. Many programs are advertised by the Dispute Resolution Section, or listed on websites such as www.mediate.com. Some training programs are specialized (e.g., family, commercial, environmental, construction), so be discriminating in terms of your interests!
- Attend conferences where you can find out what’s happening and meet people involved. Both the ABA Dispute Resolution Section and the Association for Conflict Resolution have annual conferences that are a “must” for anyone who is serious about entering the field.
Realistically, what opportunities are available in the mediation and arbitration fields for newcomers?
I teach in a law school and work with students each year who are trained and serve as mediators in our Mediation Clinic. There are always students who want to stay in the dispute resolution field after they graduate. Here are some of the jobs they have gotten: mediator for the family court; program director for court-based mediation/dispute resolution programs; trainer and teacher of mediators; professor or adjunct professor at the undergraduate and at the law school level; private practitioner as a mediator, a trainer and a consultant; consultant with an NGOs. Jobs come across my desk regularly and they seem to be looking for people who have demonstrated both competence and commitment.
Divorce mediation is an area of practice where newcomers can “hang out a shingle” and have some expectation of slowly developing a practice.
What advice do you give to those wanting to be successful with careers in dispute resolution?
Without hesitation my advice is PARTICIPATE. Say “yes” when someone needs help with a program. Volunteer to mediate at times when no one else is available. Go to conferences. Take training programs. Be present when the need to hire someone arises! Secondly, I would urge practitioners to STUDY. We really know very little about conflict and its dynamics. Read books. Go to training and conference programs. Talk with negotiators and mediators. Examine every negotiation you’re in to learn from its ups and downs. And then, when you feel you’ve learned something important, SHARE your knowledge by talking to colleagues, writing, and leading training programs and courses.
What has inspired you to keep mediation as a central focus?
I think mediation is a wonderful idea—one in keeping with a positive perspective of human nature. And the idea works in practice! The simple notion that parties in conflict are capable of working it out themselves in a way that meets their needs and comports with their values might be seen as wishful thinking until one experiences success over and over in terms of parties adjusting their views and coming to agreements.
It is so personally gratifying to serve as a mediator. Nothing is more satisfying than turning around a situation that is driving people crazy.
As a teacher in a law school, it is heartening to offer something other than adversarial process and to see student enthusiasm around the topic.
When you think back over cases you have mediated, are there a few stories that stand out?
It's hard to single out cases, as so many have been inspiring. A few stories that immediately come to mind:
- A great written agreement … When asked whether they wanted a written agreement, the parties declined, but then one party writes in large print on her yellow pad: “I’m sorry.” and hands it across the table to the other side, saying, “You want something written, there it is.” The apology was graciously accepted.
- You don’t usually hear about cases after the sessions, but … Many years ago a group of siblings resolved an estate dispute in mediation. Recently, one of the siblings and her daughter came back to mediation to address issues between them. The parent said she had kept the mediation agreement from the previous session in her top dresser drawer for many years to guide her conduct. She had had good relations with her siblings ever since. Amazing, given the acrimony in that first mediation session!
- Acrimony melting into accord and action …
A case I mediated some time ago involved a bitter struggle between a town and a minority group connected with the use of a “shaping point” (a place where day laborers and employers meet). The matter was resolved in mediation. What is particularly gratifying about that situation is seeing how the mediation resulted in a myriad of downstream improvements in interactions many years out. You don’t always get to see the long term benefits of the process.
John Lande November 2006 Voice of Experience
Just Resolutions will offer a new monthly column that highlights a "Voice of Experience" providing insight and advice to beginning practitioners. This month features John Lande of the University of Missouri-Columbia Law School.
What advice would you give to people entering the field now?
First, do a candid analysis of your abilities, interests, and limitations. Then, take a long view, listen to others, volunteer to help in the field, be patient, persistent and open to changing your perspective, and have a sense of humor.
Although the field has grown tremendously since I took my first mediation training in 1982, it is still hard to make one's place in our field because there are a limited number of specifically-designated "dispute resolution" work opportunities. Such opportunities do exist but they typically require extensive education, training, and experience. It's important to recognize that much "alternative" dispute resolution activity is done by people who don't specialize in it, such as lawyers, police, employees in government, business, and non-profit organizations, teachers, etc. People may want to look at the University of Missouri-Columbia Law School website with frequently asked questions about developing careers in dispute resolution, at http://law.missouri.edu/llm/faq.html.
As an academic, what do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the ADR field?
I think that the challenges and opportunities are generally two sides of the same coin. My hope is that "the field" will continue to grow and become increasingly integrated in all our institutions in a way that respects traditions and also incorporates values of our field. People differ in how they define the scope of the field (or whether it even is a single field) and its values. One of our biggest challenges is to constructively manage tensions within the field between maintaining clear, high standards and honoring different perspectives. I am a pluralist about this, welcoming these differences as legitimate and important. I believe that it would not be helpful to try to force some consensus, which I think isn't actually possible at any useful level of specificity. In my view, dispute resolution professionals should help clients evaluate process options that might reasonably satisfy the clients' interests and should not simply steer clients to the professionals' favorite process. Within a given process, the professionals should encourage party decision making about substantive and procedural issues as much as the parties desire and is appropriate in particular circumstances.
Do you see things any differently being in the middle of the country as compared with places like Florida and California where mediation has developed so strongly?
Since 1989, I have lived in California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arkansas, and now Missouri. Clearly ADR is less formalized and extensive in some places than others, especially metropolitan centers and in states with strong mediation cultures, like Florida and California. Most of my Missouri law students will do their dispute resolution work more as advocates rather than as neutrals. I think that it's important to recognize that lawyer-advocates and judges are important members of the dispute resolution community, whether they recognize it or not.
What has contributed to your accomplishments?
I followed the advice I described above. I did my own analysis of myself and the field, did periodic re-assessments, and anticipated that my efforts would take a long time to bear fruit. I worked hard and was very fortunate that various opportunities opened up, even when they weren't what I was wanting or expecting. The dispute resolution field has its own networks and I "plugged into" some networks and met many wonderful people who helped me along the way. I started working in local and state DR organizations and have recently devoted more time to our Section. This work has not only helped me learn and provide others the chance to recognize my abilities but it has also been a lot of fun. I don't think I would have accomplished as much if I didn't really enjoy it.
What are some of the most poignant things that have happened to you in ADR?
I see all my work as different forms of service and I am touched when people have appreciated my work. When I was in private practice, I got a lot of thank-you notes from my clients. (At the end of a divorce mediation more than twenty years ago, the couple told me that I "didn't seem like a lawyer," which they meant as a great compliment. Hopefully more people now see this approach as more typical of lawyers.) Many of my students find personal value in studying with me, which is also very satisfying. I am spoiled by having the opportunity to teach my LL.M. students in Missouri, who are the most mature, experienced, sophisticated, and motivated students I have ever worked with. I also feel good to know that people have gotten value from my publications (which can be downloaded at http://www.law.missouri.edu/lande/publications.htm).
