'Good-faith' mediation.

AuthorHenry, David W.
PositionLetters - Letter to the editor

I was heartily encouraged by the critical analysis in the recent article, "Good-Faith Mediation Orders in Florida Civil Federal Courts: Let Judges Do the Judging and Mediators Do the Mediating" (Sept/Oct), discussing the "good faith" mediation requirements in certain federal court mediation orders. Any requirement of "good faith" is contrary to the process of self-determination as the authors appropriately noted. Any subjective standard opens the door to arbitrary and capricious assessments of negotiation tactics by mediators (serving as fact finder) and judges who may or may not be pleased with the outcome of the mediation or harbor some view that a party may or may not have compromised "enough." I submit that the requirement of "good faith" is a historical anachronism. I believe the "good faith" requirement was initially inserted in some of the court orders to overcome some of the early skepticism of the process by the bar, particularly those who viewed participation in mediation as a sign of weakness. The thought being some...

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