Comments on: Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules Mediation Constitutes the Practice of Law in Limited Circumstances http://blog.aboutrsi.org/2012/court-opinions/massachusetts-supreme-court-rules-mediation-constitutes-the-practice-of-law-in-limited-circumstances/ The blog of Resolution Systems Institute Mon, 06 May 2013 17:13:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Massachusetts criminal lawyers  http://blog.aboutrsi.org/2012/court-opinions/massachusetts-supreme-court-rules-mediation-constitutes-the-practice-of-law-in-limited-circumstances/comment-page-1/#comment-71082 Massachusetts criminal lawyers  Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:00:57 +0000 http://blog.aboutrsi.org/?p=688#comment-71082 Yes, I am also understanding that what you’re saying, Joe. Its true that Mediation being an unregulated profession in most states, we are really in the wild west as far as creating rules and standards.

]]> By: Jennifer Shack http://blog.aboutrsi.org/2012/court-opinions/massachusetts-supreme-court-rules-mediation-constitutes-the-practice-of-law-in-limited-circumstances/comment-page-1/#comment-61102 Jennifer Shack Mon, 25 Jun 2012 19:18:43 +0000 http://blog.aboutrsi.org/?p=688#comment-61102 I can see what you’re saying, Joe. I like your wild west analogy. I definitely agree that we’re often shooting from the hip when it comes to dealing with regulating mediator behavior and other ethical issues. I’m still not sure, though, that you can selectively bar an attorney from performing the same tasks as other professionals in mediation.

BTW – if you’r interested in more perspectives on this, visit RSI’s discussion board on LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/MTCdb8

]]> By: Joe Markowitz http://blog.aboutrsi.org/2012/court-opinions/massachusetts-supreme-court-rules-mediation-constitutes-the-practice-of-law-in-limited-circumstances/comment-page-1/#comment-61079 Joe Markowitz Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:43:20 +0000 http://blog.aboutrsi.org/?p=688#comment-61079 It sounds like they are saying, “once a lawyer, always a lawyer.” Which to some extent I agree with. Once you have practiced law, it is hard to do anything that does not reflect your training, including mediation.

I was just solicited by a new online service that recruits “experts” in various fields to offer advice to people looking for various kinds of information. My question was whether my offering advice about mediation might constitute legal advice for which I might not be licensed in some states, and for which I might not be protected if someone who paid for my advice later claimed that my advice was wrong.

Mediation being an unregulated profession in most states, we are really in the wild west as far as creating rules and standards. It sounds like Massachusetts wants the bar to continue to regulate mediators who are or also were lawyers. And I guess I can understand some reasons for that.

]]> By: Jennifer Shack http://blog.aboutrsi.org/2012/court-opinions/massachusetts-supreme-court-rules-mediation-constitutes-the-practice-of-law-in-limited-circumstances/comment-page-1/#comment-60437 Jennifer Shack Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:29:01 +0000 http://blog.aboutrsi.org/?p=688#comment-60437 I agree, Kent. It does seem that they’re rationalizing a way to keep him from becoming a mediator.

]]> By: Kent Lawrence http://blog.aboutrsi.org/2012/court-opinions/massachusetts-supreme-court-rules-mediation-constitutes-the-practice-of-law-in-limited-circumstances/comment-page-1/#comment-60190 Kent Lawrence Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:31:18 +0000 http://blog.aboutrsi.org/?p=688#comment-60190 Schizophrenia. It would take a lawyer (or judge) to rationalize this one. They want to get this “bad boy” former lawyer so badly…. Hard cases make bad law.

]]>