The jury is still out on the Mediation Act, a Federal statute, with the Mediation Committee (Vermittlungsausschuss) trying to reconcile the approaches of the Upper and the Lower House (Bundesrat und Bundestag) to court-integrated mediation.In the meantime, an initiative has been started in Baden-Württemberg to bin the state Mandatory Mediation Act (Gesetz zur obligatorischen außergerichtlichen Streitschlichtung –
Schlichtungsgesetz). Continue reading
Fulbright & Jaworksi have just published their most recent Litigation Trends Survey Report. Fulbright & Jaworski have, since 2004, conducted between 300 and 400 interviews with in-house counsel in the United States and Europe. In this year’s report, they look back on eight years of data “on attitudes and strategies in relation to international arbitrations”. Continue reading
Academics from Frankfurt’s Max Planck Institute for European Legal History, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University and University of Applied Sciences have joined forces for a research project focussing on “Extrajudicial and Judicial Conflict Resolution”, which started in January 2012.
One of the recurring themes in mediation is, whether lawyers should attend or not attend the medition. More generelly speaking: what role do lawyers have to play in mediation? One often hears that that when one or both sides bring their lawyer to the mediation, the mediation is slowed down, becomes more contentious and adversarial, and more likely to fail compared to a situation where they parties worked solely with a mediator. Continue reading
The Upper House (Bundesrat) of the German Parliament has been active in ADR related matters twice this month:
First, its Legal Committee (Rechtausschuss) sent the Mediation Act, which has been unanimously approved by the Lower House (Bundestag)  to the Mediation Committee (Vermittlungsausschuss). Pardon the pun, but I am using the quasi-official translation for the joint committee of the two Houses, provided for in Art. 77 of the German Constitution. Continue reading