Resolving disputes – guide tells you how

PR for People® Reviews:

BOOKS: By Barbara Lloyd McMichael Resolving disputes – guide tells you how

So, You Want to Mediate? – Gregg Bertram, M.A., J.D., LL.M.

Pacific ADR Consulting – 24 pp - $8.95

   This presidential campaign season has upped the wild and crazy quotient – and once the votes are counted, one worries if the dust will settle even then. Do Americans on opposite sides of the fence even remember how to get past the vitriol and work with one another?

   A new guide suggests that there are approaches and processes that can help an increasingly carping and litigious society to just… calm… down.

   “So, You Want to Mediate?” is the title of a slim and unprepossessing booklet that packs a surprisingly powerful message: it is possible to negotiate a settlement in which all sides have buy-in.

   Seattle-based mediator/arbitrator Gregg Bertram has a nationwide reputation as a leader in the field of ADR – Alternate Dispute Resolution.  In short sections, using clear language and throwing in an occasional amusing cartoon, Bertram discusses the advantages of mediation – the chief one being that the parties in contention retain significant control of the process – their fate is not put into the hands of a judge or jury. ADR also offers the likelihood of reaching a resolution much more quickly than a court proceeding generally allows.

   Affordability and confidentiality are other pluses, as is the capacity of the process to handle many different sorts of conflicts.

   This guide helps clients understand what to expect. It outlines the steps of the process, the role a mediator plays as the neutral third party, and the responsibilities of the disputing parties and of their support teams.

   “So, You Want to Mediate?” stresses preparation, but it also advises allowing time for “significant venting,” as Bertram judiciously puts it. Rather than demonizing the other side or dismissing it, mediation acknowledges grievances, and emphasizes the value of listening as well as talking.

   Only then does it figure out a way to help everyone reach accord and move on. What a concept!

Barbara Lloyd McMichael is our ground reporter in South King County, Wash., and author of the syndicated book review column “The Bookmonger.” Her PR for People® Book Review is written exclusively for The Connector.