24/6/2021 Who will Extend the Olive Branch?Pettiness seems to have reached new levels when you see the picture of the tree that has stood between these two houses for 25 years. From what I have read the owners of the tree are clearly livid about what has happened, whilst their neighbours are not talking to anyone.
How on earth do you find a way forward here? No-one has committed a crime, no-one has, it seems, any legal redress against the other. There is therefore no litigation stick (no pun intended!) to beat the other side with. We often talk about cases being suitable, or crying out, for mediation. This seems to fall squarely into that category but what are the logistics? The first step is to get both sides engaged in the process. Then there will need to be an agreement to split the costs of the mediator (one side could agree to pay the whole costs but I find it really helps for both sides to have 'skin in the game'). That in itself is a huge endeavour that might take a lot of time and energy. But on the basis it can be done, thereafter it falls into a fairly standard mediation process. The mediator talks with each party in turn, builds rapport, finds out about them, their lives, gets an idea of what makes them 'tick', and then gradually gets a better of idea of how this arose, what had happened between them to prompt it, what were they trying to achieve. Then starting to discuss the future, leaving the past (and its raw emotions) behind. The aim is to produce for both sides a list of objectives that exposes their underlying interests, rather than their positions. Then to start to discuss options, ways forward, how to avoid the position resting where it is. Offers then start to get batted to and fro', before hopefully finding fertile ground (again, no pun intended!) and a settlement, a way forward. Recent research shows that mediations have a whopping 93% success rate at or shortly after the mediation. Even the insurmountable can be resolved. Although I'm not sure how long it will take before the tree gets back to looking normal again. Comments are closed.
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AuthorRichard Marshall is an Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator with over 25 years experience as a Litigation Solicitor, as well as being a qualified Solicitor-Advocate. He is the founder of Striving to Settle, through which he works as a mediator and provides negotiation training. www.strivingtosettle.co.uk Archives
August 2022
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