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Alternative Dispute Resolution Specialists

Representing a client in a Mediation / Negotiation setting requires a huge change in approach and attitude for a hardcore litigation / corporate lawyer. A ‘Resolutionary’ Lawyer who counsels in a Consensual Dispute Resolution setting requires a whole different skill set, in addition to what he / she possesses as a adversarial lawyer, and therefore, putting on a collaborative hat may seem easy on paper, but the real test is at the table, while facing the other party / counsel.

These Guidelines for Parenting Coordination in South Africa have been developed from the Guidelines for Parenting Coordination originally created in 2005 by the interdisciplinary Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (“ AFCC”) Task Force on Parenting Coordination in the United States of America, the Guidelines for Parenting Coordination subsequently adapted in 2011 by the British Columbia (“ BC”) Parenting Coordinators Roster Society in Canada and the Guidelines for the Practice of Parenting Coordination drafted by the American Psychological Association ( “ APA ” ) in 2011.

Evaluating the risk of winning or losing a lawsuit and the reward of damages is based on probabilities, statistics and data. Some commentators refer to this as “objective criteria.” (See: Getting To Yes, Fisher and Ury). Others observe that if other incidents happened in a similar way that the mediated resolution should likely be the same. As a result, decision makers categorize disputes based on historical data and walk into the mediation room armed with a pocketed case value set in concrete.

In franchise disputes, lawyers and parties who search for mediators drill down on mediators’ professional backgrounds, often paying the most attention to whether potential mediators have previously represented franchisors or franchisees. Despite the fact that lawyers generally don’t choose their clients – clients choose lawyers – everyone, or most everyone, wants to know if a lawyer being considered as a mediator in a franchise dispute has been identified with franchisors or franchisees.