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October 01, 2016

Mediation Week

The ABA declared the week of Oct. 16-22 as Mediation Week to celebrate the growing field of alternative dispute resolution around the world. The celebration also recognized that not all cases in the justice system are well-suited for the adversarial process and that there are multiple paths to justice that are increasingly shared by attorneys, judges and the public. The special week, which has been coordinated by the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution each October since 2011, builds in part on the efforts of many other national, state, and local organizations, including the Association for Conflict Resolution, that have traditionally celebrated conflict resolution during the month of October. More than 40 activities were held during Mediation Week to educate lawyers, parties, public officials, and the general public about mediation and to continue to promote the use of mediation. This year’s theme, “Celebrating Mediation in All Its Diversity,” focused on helping lawyers and mediators understand both the challenges and rewards of helping parties in conflict reach an agreement by getting past differences in positions, by understanding each other’s perspective better, and by finding ways to get their important interests met while staying true to their values and belief systems. As part of the celebration, the section developed an electronic Mediation Week Toolkit that includes program planning guides, talking points, handouts and articles.

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