Arbitration & Mediation

New and recommended: ADR blogs to add to your reading list

By Diane Levin

From time to time I select noteworthy blogs from recent additions to ADRblogs.com, the site tracking alternative dispute resolution blogs world-wide, and highlight them here. Here is my latest selection, four blogs that stand out in different ways:

Mediation Strategies, published by San Francisco mediator and lawyer Michael Carbone, discusses techniques for resolving civil lawsuits and other disputes, with recommendations to lawyers and clients on how to prepare for mediation. Carbone, who writes well, is off to an impressive start, with posts such as “Deciding when to mediate“, earning him a well-deserved place among Mediate.com’s Featured Bloggers.

The Trial Warrior is published by Antonin Pribetic, a Toronto-based lawyer who specializes in domestic and international commercial litigation and arbitration. Pribetic is also an academic, teaching Advanced Legal Process at the University of Toronto at Mississauga-Rotman School of Management Diploma in Forensic & Investigative Accounting (DIFA) program. A gifted writer who brings keen-eyed analysis to his work, Pribetic describes the unique focus of this outstanding blog:

A few years ago, I picked up a copy of The Art of War—the classic Chinese treatise on military theory and Taoist philosophy—and experienced an epiphany after reading the following quote from Sun Tzu: “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Since then, I have studied and applied The Art of War to both my professional and personal life. This blog will endeavour to lead rather than simply follow; to enlighten, inform and entertain, as well as to learn from its readers, contributors and warriors in all disciplines and walks of life.

Mediation’s Place, published by Joseph C. Markowitz, a trial lawyer and mediator based in Los Angeles, grapples with compelling questions:

How does mediation fit into a system of justice that seems antithetical to mediation? What changes need to be made to court procedures, and to litigants’ mindsets, in order to resolve issues by negotiation instead of by litigation? Why is mediation called a form of “alternative” dispute resolution? What makes mediation work?

New bloggers are often advised to focus their blog on a niche topic. Published by Florida firm Upchurch Watson White & Max, Wealth Mediation Blog does precisely that, focusing its posts on issues relevant to its client base, family businesses and families of wealth.

For additional blogs on alternative dispute resolution and negotiation, consider my recent list of top 24 ADR blogs.

Full post as published by Online Guide to Mediation on September 24, 2009 (boomark / email).