Mediation - Practice and Law (Hardcover)

Time is the greatest casualty of the adversarial process. There is a need to resort to other methods of dispute resolution which will not only save time, but also diminish the acrimony and estranged relationships resulting from litigation. Mediation is the effective alternative remedy since its focus is on non-coercive and consensual processes.
Ever since the legislature amended Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure to include mediation as one of the modes of dispute settlement, a wide range of disputes, including commercial disputes, matrimonial cases, contractual and property claims, family and business conflicts, workplace disputes have been referred to mediation.

This book brings out the art, techniques and skills of mediation. The author walks the reader through a full-length mediation with notes to illustrate different stages. The book also shows how mediators should deal with seemingly dead-end situations and prescribes norms of confidentiality and ethics.

Written in simple, accurate, and persuasive language, the book, based on the author?s own experience over two decades, examines how the positive approach of mediation helps litigators find solutions by constructive negotiation with the help of a trusted mediator in an environment of mutual respect.

Key HIghlights
* Provides a complete clarity on understanding conflicts and how to effectively resolve them
* Explains how mediation helps parties probe beneath the surface and identify their real needs and interests
* Includes a detailed analysis of mediation techniques adopted in different countries along with the relevant legislation and case law
* Examines the experience of court annexed mediation in India
* The law on the subject and the precedents laid down by Courts in India and abroad are exhaustively dealt with.
* Provides practical tips on how a successful mediation needs to be conducted
* The book lists the pitfalls that mediators should be careful about.

A must for Legal Professionals, Mediators, Mediation Centres, Judiciary, Companies & individuals facing/contemplating litigation, Students of Law and Conflict Resolution, Law and social science libraries.

About the Author
Sriram Panchu, Senior Advocate, is a successful pioneer of the mediation movement in India and has conducted mediations, trained mediators and assisted several High Courts in setting up their mediation centres. He has been involved in mediation work for over two decades. He is the author of Settle for More-the why, how and when of Mediation which introduced the subject to the Indian audience. He has been a part of the Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre, India?s first court-annexed mediation centre, since its inception in 2005.

Table of Contents
* Foreword by Fali S Nariman
* Preface
* Statutes and Instruments
* Table of Cases

Chapter 1
* the Need for Mediation
* AN INSIGHT INTO THE ADVERSARIAL PROCESS
* THE NATURE OF THE ADVERSARIAL PROCESS
* The burden of procedure
* Excessive disputing and polarization
* Winner takes it all
* WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF THE ADVERSARIAL PROCESS?
* Elongated legal time
* Increased legal costs
* Strained relationships
* Skirting the issue
* Regression of client
* HONESTY IN THE JUDICIARY
* MERITS OF THE ADVERSARIAL PROCESS
* NEED FOR ADVERSARIAL AND CONSENSUAL RESOLUTION
* MEDIATION?THE FAVOURED ADR METHOD
* WHAT IS MEDIATION?
* ILLUSTRATIONS HIGHLIGHTING THE MAIN FEATURES OF MEDIATION
* Example 1: The Hotel and Association Case
* Example 2: The Company and Converter Case
* viii Mediation?The Path to Successful Dispute Resolution
* Example 3: Land Developer and Rival Owners
* Example 4: A Divorce Scenario
* Example 5: Partners of the Firm

Chapter 2
* Understanding Conflict
* THE MEANING OF CONFLICT
* NATURE OF CONFLICT
* THEORIES OF CONFLICT
* Aggressor-defender
* The conflict spiral
* Structural change
* THE CONFLICT TRIANGLE
* TYPES OF CONFLICT
* CAUSES OF CONFLICT
* Relationship conflict
* Value conflicts
* Structural conflicts
* Data conflicts
* POSITIONS, INTERESTS AND NEEDS?UNDERSTANDING
* THE DIFFERENCE
* RESPONSES TO CONFLICT
* Avoidance
* Accommodation
* Compromise
* Competition
* Collaboration
* The Responses Chart
* Other factors affecting responses
* RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT
* Methods of resolution under various processes
* ADR and litigation?A comparison
* Illegal modes
* The satisfaction triangle
* More points on arbitration

Chapter 3
* Negotiation
* AN INTRODUCTION TO NEGOTIATION
* MEDIATION?ASSISTED NEGOTIATION
* OBSTACLES TO SUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATION
* COMPARING NEGOTIATION AND MEDIATION
* Communication?Secrecy vs Sharing information
* The negotiating climate
* Strategies and techniques
* Outcomes
* NEGOTIATING STYLES

Chapter 4
* Basic Skills for Mediation
* COMMUNICATION?THE ESSENCE OF MEDIATION
* Listening skills
* Good listening skills for Mediators
* Processing what has been said
* Negative mediator behaviour
* Direct and open ended questions
* BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR IMPROVING COMMUNCATION

Chapter 5
* The ?How to? of Conducting Mediation
* INTRODUCTION
* Checking for conflict of interest
* Participants in the process
* THE STEPS IN THE MEDIATION PROCESS
* The Opening Round
* Meetings with the parties?Joint and Separate
* sessions
* Facilitative and evaluative mediation
* The Creative Stage?Moving the parties away from
* entrenched positions to interests
* x Mediation?The Path to Successful Dispute Resolution
* Legal realism
* Alternatives to settlement
* Options for settlement
* The final steps
* THE ESSENTIALS OF A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT