Introduction

• Author: Victoria Pynchon/Joe Kraynak (With)
• Profession: Mediator, author, speaker, negotiation trainer, consultant, and attorney with 25 years of experience in commercial litigation practice/Professional writer who has contributed to numerous For Dummies books
• Pages: 1-6

Introduction

W

elcome to the theory, practice, and business of mediation. Whether

you’ve just taken your first 28-hour mediation course or completed

your LL.M in dispute resolution, this book is your guide, reminder, resource,

cheat sheet, and magic talisman to jump-start a new career or revive a flag-

ging one.

If you, like me, have been foolhardy enough to launch yourself into a new

career in an uncertain economic climate; if you don’t care how flooded with

mediators the market supposedly is; if you believe you’ve been called to this

work by your better angels; and if you could use the companionship of like-

minded people and advice from battle-scarred survivors who are flourishing

in their practices, you’ve come to the right place.

Within these pages you’ll find something I never did — easy-to-follow, com-

prehensive, field-tested principles and practices that set the standard all

mediators should strive to meet. Because this profession is an accidental

one, having grown out of informal neighborhood justice centers and formal

courtroom practices, opinions about what “true” mediation practice really is

are as plentiful as recipes for turkey stuffing.

I made my own way to mediation through the adversarial system, in which

mediators focus on a single issue (usually money) and negotiate with each

party in separate caucus, shuttling offers and counteroffers back and forth

until the parties hammer out a deal. This approach remains the method of

choice, at least in the Los Angeles market. Dissatisfied with the old settle-

ment conference model in which judges lower everyone’s expectations

before coercing them into settlements that satisfy no one, I returned to

school to learn as much as I possibly could about collaborative models, in

which the mediator teams up with the parties to develop solutions (often

beyond the confines of money) to satisfy each party’s interests.

In short, I’ve studied and practiced all the approaches to mediation — direc-

tive, evaluative, facilitative, and transformative — and I know the strengths

and weaknesses of each model. I’m also well-versed on the tools of the trade —

the skills and techniques proven to be most effective in reopening the chan-

nels of communication, identifying issues and interests, engaging with the

parties in collaborative problem-solving, and breaking through the parties’

inevitable impasse. I fill you in on all these facets of mediation in this book.