The Red Velvet Lawyer

10/n An Analysis of UAE's Commercial Mediation Law, Federal Law No. 6 of 2021, Confidentiality in Mediation, Part 1: The  Analytical  Framework In an earlier  post , analyzing party control over process choices, I talked about confidentiality in mediation.  I said:  This topic has confounded many organizations trying to set guidelines for confidentiality in mediation. In 2001, the National Conference on Uniform State Laws in the U.S. produced the Uniform Mediation Act after many drafting sessions occurring over several years. A large part of the draft law applies to confidentiality. After a lapse of 22 years, only twelve states have adopted it. Instead, other states rely on their own laws governing mediator confidentiality. Similarly, various iterations of rules governing confidentiality exist all over the world.  Accordingly, to create some structure to the analysis, I am providing this discussion covering: What are the breakdowns in the process that lead to a desire to bre

  9/n An Analysis of UAE's Commercial Mediation Law No. 6 of 2021, Mediator Impartiality : Using the Firestone Grid as an Analytical Tool Mediator impartiality is one of the core values of mediation. My research revealed that conduct that makes a party believe that the mediator has lost his or her impartiality is the most frequently cited reason for filing a complaint against a mediator in the U.S. states of Virginia and Maine. It appears as the second most frequently raised allegation in Florida, Georgia, and Minnesota. Parties easily perceive bias in the mediator's conduct or attitudes and it can result in disengagement with the process, a failed mediation, and ongoing impasse in the dispute. Introduction Mediator neutrality (or impartiality) gets attention in several articles of the UAE Commercial the Mediation Law . Article 6 of the law provides: The [privately appointed] mediator shall sign a document proving his acceptance of the mediation mission as well as his neutr

  8/n An Analysis of UAE’s Commercial Mediation Law, Federal  Law  No. 6 of 2021, Party Self-Determination, Part 4: Mediator Influence, Process Design, and  Party  Control Over the Process In my last post  here , I discussed a framework, developed by  Prof. Leonard Riskin , for considering issues of party self-determination and the extent of mediator influence in the process design and process choices.  In two earlier posts  here  and  here , I considered party self-determination over substantive issues arising in the mediation, as well as high-quality decision-making about the outcome in the context of the UAE Commercial Mediation Law, a copy of which is available here . As I noted in my earlier post, m any steps in the mediation process invite input from the parties or their lawyers.  But, the program design or the interventions of a mediator can undermine that procedural self-determination. The following list provides some of the process decisions in which parties or their lawyers c