Task #3: Visualize the future beyond the dispute.

The resolution of a dispute does not just occur on the day of the mediation. Each participant to mediation needs to prepare their own strategy for negotiation in the settlement. Based on my experience as a mediator, these are a collection of tasks each participant needs to complete and to discuss with their council and the mediator before the mediation.

These tasks and the discussion with the mediator are confidential. They are confidential under both Attorney Client privilege and under mediation confidential provisions in court rules, statutes, and standards.

Task #3: Where do you want to be in five years after this mediation?

Develop a basic description or visualize what life and/or business would be like in five to ten years? What does life and/or business look like after the resolution of this dispute? How will you spend your time, money and talent?

The purpose of this exercise is to get you to think what life might be like after the resolution of this dispute. Right now you are in the middle of the dispute and its immediate aftermath. You have spent time – a lot of time, money and energy on various aspects of the dispute. If it is a commercial dispute, you will have gone through the disruption of preparing and doing the discovery process. If it is personal injury, you will have endured lost work while being deposed in depositions. You have spent considerable time wondering if you will win in court. Have you spent time thinking about life after the dispute is resolved. What does that look like?

Discuss this with your attorney and confidentially with your mediator.

About the Author: Ken Strongman (www.kpstrongman.com) has years of experience and a growing national reputation as a mediator and arbitrator. He has successfully resolved more than a thousand disputes in the fields of construction defects, real estate, intellectual property, and employment. He is also a Mediator and Arbitrator for FINRA.