Offering interdisciplinary insights from sociological, psychological and gender studies, this book addresses this question: how do professional, lay and gendered actors understand and experience case processing in litigation and mediation? Drawing on data from 131 interviews, questionnaires and observations of plaintiffs, defendants, lawyers and mediators involved in 64 fatality and medical injury cases, the book challenges dominant understandings of how formal legal processes and dispute resolution work in practice as well as the notion that disputants and their representatives broadly understand and want the same things during case processing. In juxtaposing actors' discourse on all sides of ongoing cases on issues such as expectations, needs, comprehensions of what plaintiffs seek from the legal system, objectives for resolving conflict at mediation, and perceptions of what occurs during attempts at case resolution, the findings reveal inherent problems with the core workings of the legal system.

When employers and employees wage war in the workplace, nobody wins. Workplace conflict that escalates into a lengthy ordeal costs more than money: both employers and employees suffer damages to their health, home life, personal, and professional relationships, and to the productivity of the business. There is a better way. Professional mediator Amy Lieberman is on a mission to get all businesses to wholeheartedly embrace mediation. In this book you will learn the secrets to resolving conflict and restoring peace. Discover an accelerated way for employers and employees to get conflicts out in the open, to find resolutions both sides can live with, and to get back to the productive business of work and life.

This open access book presents twelve unique studies on mediation from researchers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, respectively. Each study highlights important aspects of mediation, including the role of children in family mediation, the evolution and ambivalent application of restorative justice in the Nordic countries, the confusion of roles in court-connected mediation, and the challenges in dispute systems. Over the past 20-30 years, mediation has gained in popularity in many countries around the world and is often heralded as a suitable and cost-effective mode of conflict resolution. However, as the studies in this volumes show, mediation also has a number of potential drawbacks. Parties’ self-determination may be jeopardized, affected third parties are involved in an inadequate way, and the legal regulations may be flawed. The publication can inspire research, help professionals and policymakers in the field and be used as a textbook.

Mediation Law and Practice gives a thorough account of the practice of mediation from the perspective of the student and practitioner. Divided into two parts, it deals with both the practice of mediation and the law surrounding mediation. Touching on the theory and philosophy behind the practice, it further describes in a theoretical and practical sense the difference between the emerging models of mediation. Mediator qualities are discussed in terms of issues of gender, culture and power. This book examines the important issue of mediation ethics and, taking into account the developing law surrounding the practice, proposes a code of ethics. It looks at the future of mediation in light of the decline in litigation, the rise in regulatory constraints on mediation and the popularity of online mediation. Mediation Law and Practice provides students and practitioners with the complete text on the practice and law surrounding mediation.

As judiciaries advance, exploring how court mediation programs can provide opportunities for party-directed reconciliation whilst ensuring access to formal legal channels requires careful investigation. Court Mediation Reform explores comparative empirical findings in order to examine the association between court mediation structure and perceptions of justice, efficiency and confidence in courts.