I have devoted my life in assisting people to resolve conflict through mediation. One of the joys of mediation is when the parties are able to set aside their differences and reach a resolution of all issues. In my experience, this occurs about 90% of the time.

I recently had a complex combination of an estate, family business and commercial matter. It involved over 15 parties and had been in litigation for over 4 years. Siblings were suing each other as well as their lawyers and barristers. There were many allegations including those of fraud and duress involving the borrowing of a large amount of money from one of the siblings from the mother and the improper management of the family business at the time of the GFC. The matter was a hornets nest of emotion and was destroying the family and various careers.

There had been a prior mediation and the mediator had so alienated all of the parties that most of them walked out before the mediation had ended.

I was retained to mediate the matter. We spent a day mediating it and were able to fully resolve the matter. We prepared a settlement agreement and all parties and lawyers signed off on the agreement. Resolution saved toe parties hundreds of thousands of dollars for a 3-4 week trial.

When I left the mediation at the end of the day, I felt such joy in that I had assisted the parties in resolving all issues. As I walked out of the building, there was a rain storm. I laughed and thought to myself that there is a rainstorm outside, but inside the rainstorm had been resolved and the parties could move on with their lives. It felt wonderful to have assisted with resolution of conflict and that another matter had reached a successful conclusion.