As a US expat, I am on average asked 3 or 4 times a week just what exactly is going on with America, the election and in particular with Donald Trump.  I explain that Americans (particularly middle Americans) are rebelling against the established order and are supporting candidates from the far right like Donald Trump

The Art of Dealing with Difficult Clients and Difficult Lawyers   Founder and CEO of The Mediation Experts, Farley S. Tolpen was delighted to give an invited presentation last night titled “How to Recognise and Deal with Difficult Clients and Difficult Lawyers”. Farley is well known for his inspiring and enthusiastic talks and he was

Farley was once again invited to give a presentation to a medium sized law firm yesterday on dealing with challenging clients and lawyers. Those of you who have met Farley will be familiar with his friendly personality and witty sense of humor which helped ensure everyone stayed involved and intrigued throughout! During this presentation Farley

After a lifetime of playing, coaching and refereeing, I have come to the conclusion that sports psychology can be applied to mediation.  Both require preparation, discipline and patience.  Your mind needs to be calm, mindful, balanced and you shouldn’t take things too personally.  During mediation, as with sport, the players experience a range of emotions. 

I recently had a tough commercial mediation.   It took eight long hours of negotiation until, finally, we reached agreement. By the time I got home I was exhausted.  My head was buzzing from a powerful range of emotions, both negative and positive.   I was hungry and tired but also satisfied with my performance. As I

You see, my role as a mediator is like chemistry. I am the alkaline solution that neutralises the chemicals and stops the explosion. I assist parties with peace and ending the conflict. As a mediator, it’s my job to deal with people in a fair, transparent and equal process.  I have to have the skills

After over 20 years as a mediator, my passion for dispute resolution and assisting parties resolve conflict burns brightly. I find it as exciting and rewarding now as I did 20 years ago. I look forward with anticipation to upcoming mediations. The passion I have for mediation extends to my role as a mediator. As

As we enter the new year and I reflect on my life as a mediator, I am proud of my achievements. I have a passion for mediation. The results are reflected in the feedback I receive from clients and the fact that around 90% of all matters that I mediate reach resolution. Concomitantly, I have

MEDIATION – THE 90% SOLUTION It has been my experience that around 90 per cent of conflicts are resolved at mediation. I achieve this high success rate because of a combination of two factors.  One is my ability to work impartially with understanding and respect and build rapport with each of the protagonists and/or their

Cyclones cause havoc and so do disputes. Today, I spent hours hosing down my driveway and veranda. As I was guerneying, I came to realize that the skillset needed to achieve a good result was similar to that needed for a successful mediation: Patience. You cannot go any faster than the clients/guerney equipment; Mindfulness. You