Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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In last month’s lead article, “Mediator Accreditation: Is It Risk? Or Quality Enhancement? “ 26 Alternatives 165 (October 2008), Tony Willis, a well-known and highly respected London-based mediator, voices a view opposing an initiative of the International Mediation Institute (IMI) to promote mediator certification globally. 

Willis expresses a view we have heard from mediators who oppose this initiative without, perhaps, fully appreciating why so many see it as filling a genuine need. They believe mediation is an art, not a profession. Willis captures this view well when he notes in the article that it is difficult “to define in advance precisely what a mediator should do in a particular case.”

The coauthors of this article agree that it is difficult to define what a mediator will do in reaction to the exigencies of any particular mediation. We agree that mediation is an art. But we have difficulty understanding the objection to regarding mediation as a profession. We occupy different roles as mediators, advocates, and party representatives of global companies involved in dispute negotiations, and we have all faced our share of stress, high stakes, and uncertainty. The professionalism in each of our disciplines directs us to the best response