ABA Announces Theme For Mediation Week

The theme for this year’s American Bar Association (ABA) Mediation Week is "Mediation, Civility and the Power of Understanding." As lawyers and mediators, we understand both the challenges and rewards of helping parties in conflict reach an agreement by getting past differences in positions, by understanding each other’s perspectives better, and by finding ways to get their important interests met while staying true to their values and belief systems. Programs held during ABA Mediation Week will provide neutrals, advocates and policy makers with inspiration and tools necessary to bridge the gap that often prevents amicable resolution of disputes. Over the last few decades the field of alternative dispute resolution has grown tremendously, helping to clear dockets in the courts. The recognition that not all cases are well suited for the adversarial process and that there are multiple paths to justice is increasingly shared by attorneys, judges, and the public. Since 2011, the ABA declared Mediation Week as the third week of October, building on the prior efforts of many other national, state, and local organizations, including the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) which have traditionally celebrated conflict resolution during the month of October. ABA Mediation Week celebrates of the strides in institutionalizing mediation as one of several appropriate dispute resolution processes. Since this is an officially listed ABA Journal "Blawg," you will see more about ABA Mediation Week which will be held during October 15-21 this year. See more here-- http://bit.ly/2wuJ9Nx and http://bit.ly/2wmsqgg

I Need Your Vote!

Here's an easy warm-up for our national election process. Please choose my Orlando Mediator blog for 'The 2016 Best Legal Blog Contest' put on by The Expert Institute. This blog just celebrated its sixth anniversary. It has already become an officially listed 'Blawg' of the American Bar Association's ABA Journal. The Expert Institute was founded with the objective of developing a smarter way for attorneys to identify, verify, and retain the best experts. They have now nominated and selected this blog as a finalist in the Legal News category, narrowed from a field to more than 500 of the most exciting, entertaining, and informative legal blogs online today. According to the contest organizer, every one of these blogs has earned its spot as a leader in its category. It's time for readers to select the best of the best-- creating the most definitive list of the Internet's top legal blogs and a permanent spot on their Best Legal Blogs page. Readers can submit one vote per IP address. The polls close November 14th so, just to be safe, please vote now and get your friends and associates to do so as well! Thanks for your loyal readership and support. Copy this link, verify you are human, and click thumbs up box to vote-- www.theexpertinstitute.com/legal-blog/orlando-mediator

UPDATE: The votes are tallied and Orlando Mediator took third in the Legal News category and will be permanently listed on the Best Legal Blogs once updated here-- https://www.theexpertinstitute.com/best-legal-blogs/

Happy New Year from Orlando Mediator!

It has been almost five years since this blog was created by Orlando Mediator, Lawrence H. Kolin, to explore issues and trends in dispute resolution. In that time, this weblog has become an officially-listed "Blawg" of the American Bar Association's ABA Journal. My full-time alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practice has continually evolved since first becoming certified in 2001 in Circuit-Civil and County mediation by the Florida Supreme Court. I have recently joined the prestigious national ADR firm, Upchurch Watson White & Max, known for facilitating reasonable agreements to resolve difficult issues. I continue to handle resolutions of complex cases in state and federal trial courts, as well as appellate mediation. Though litigation costs remain high, filings have slowly risen as the economy finally recovers, with early settlements still popular in business cases. Pre-suit mediation can be effective if the parties have enough information to evaluate their positions in the potential litigation. Another development has been the advent of electronic discovery in state courts and the struggle by judges and lawyers to get a handle on the necessity and expense of producing and exchanging data in proportion to the amount in controversy. Routine early mediation of these e-discovery issues by an experienced E-Neutral can actually help narrow the scope of electronically stored information (ESI) and return the focus of the parties to the merits of the case. I look forward to another great year of highlighting the current news and latest directions ADR is taking in the 21st Century. Thanks for joining me along the way!

Orlando Mediator ABA Blawg 100 Amici

Readers of my Orlando Mediator law blog or official ABA "blawg" as they are known can help it become part of the Blawg 100 by submitting a fan comment via this online form-- http://www.abajournal.com/blawgs/blawg100_submit/ The American Bar Association will include some of the best comments in their Blawg 100 coverage. But keep your remarks pithy—you have a 500-character limit.Friend-of-the-blawg briefs are due no later than Sept. 7, 2012. http://bit.ly/duhsEWBlawg 100 Amici guidelines ask readers to send messages via the link above on behalf of this blawg. There is no specific criteria to be guaranteed a spot on the Blawg 100. A blawg’s whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, and a blawg that never fails to post that daily update, has a beautiful design and an unwavering topical focus can very often have less of an impact than another blawg that is less consistent on all fronts. Thanks for your votes for Orlando Mediator!

Orlando Mediator blog now an official ABA "blawg"

Just a brief post to announce that the American Bar Association has officially listed this blog as one of its law blogs or "blawgs." The ABA's Blawg Directory is promoted by the distinguished ABA Journal online and is touted as a comprehensive directory of continually updated law blogs. Help this blawg reach the "Blawg 100," an annual listing of the top one hundred blawgs in the law, now in its fifth year. Details will be posted when voting opens this year and the hope is that this blog will be the first devoted to mediation to make the list. Thanks for your readership and continued support of this endeavor which is a labor of love published in the interest of expanding the use of mediation and alternative dispute resolution in the 21st century. My mediation practice began in 2001 and continues to push the envelope in creative use of ADR. As an example, recent topics include the use of early ESI mediation to avoid protracted E-Discovery battles, allowing parties in litigation to re-focus their cases on the merits. I look forward to continuing exploring new topics on this blawg as trends develop to keep professional neutrals and advocates alike abreast of the latest in this field. Orlando Mediator can now be found as this URL on ABA: http://www.abajournal.com/blawg/Orlando_Mediator