As a follow-up to last week’s post about interpreter services being required for all mediations, I’d like to pass along a fascinating article titled The Politics and Power of Plain Language by Jane M. Siegel, a professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School (hat tip to Richard Zorza for highlighting this article in his recent post). Siegel references The Plain Writing Act of 2010, which requires federal agencies to write all new informational or filing documents, including (more…)
Archive for the ‘Ethics’ Category
Speak Justly: Mediators and the Plain Language Movement
Just Court ADR, August 25th, 2011Groundbreaking Court Decision Requires Courts to Comply with Mediators
Just Court ADR, July 15th, 2011Reporting on Reporting on Good Faith
Just Court ADR, March 9th, 2011No one wants parties in a mediation to sit at the table with their arms crossed, refusing to talk. But who, if anyone, should tell mediators how to evaluate a party’s good faith participation in mediation? (more…)
Good Faith, Revisited
Jennifer Shack, September 21st, 2010(See the posting from Susan Yates, “Learning from the Gamble on Foreclosure Mediation in Nevada,” on this subject, too.)
An article in Sunday’s New York Times examined the shortcomings some see in Nevada’s foreclosure mediation program. The article focuses in part on complaints that the lenders are not participating in good faith. Mediators who have recommended sanctions against the lenders say they have been removed from the program’s roster. They state that they are bound by statute to make the recommendation. The court rule makes no mention of good faith participation, and the Court appears to be relying on the rule in its decision to bar the mediators from the roster.
Leaving aside the question of which authority prevails, I’d like to examine the wisdom of requiring mediators to recommend sanctions against a party. NRS 107.086 states in part: (more…)
