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In January 1918, a soldier stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., reported to the base hospital suffering from flu-like symptoms: a sore throat, fever and chest pain. By lunchtime that day, more than 100 soldiers had come down with the same mysterious malady. This was the beginning of the influenza pandemic that struck the U.S., and later the world, a century ago.

Notwithstanding the pandemic and to no surprise, the mediation committee has been active this summer. Kudos to our past and present committee leaders who are vested in building our membership and driving the practice benefits of an educated mediation process.

This article first appeared in the Maine Lawyers Review, June 18, 2020.

On August 5, 2019, I had the enlightening opportunity of discussing mediation with Rick Mikels, a seasoned bankruptcy practitioner whose appreciation for the nuances of mediation is remarkable. Rick was one of the first students of the ABI/St. Johns 40-Hour Mediation Training Program, an intensive five-day course that focuses on bankruptcy issues while educating participants about the concepts and techniques available to mediators.

Anyone who has spent any time mediating, either representing a party or acting as the neutral, knows that the role of a mediator is typically defined by the parties, the nature of the litigation and the best path toward a resolution. Certainly, a mediator is a neutral facilitator, but the same can be said of arbitrators. All forms of “alternative dispute resolution” come down to the question of whether the neutral is acting in a facilitator role, advisory role or determinative role.