On Mediation, Legal Representatives and Advocates I Introduction
2015 On Mediation, Legal Representatives and Advocates 5 ON MEDIATION, LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES AND ADVOCATES BOBETTE WOLSKI * I INTRODUCTION Mediation has become an integral part of the civil justice system in Australia. 1 As a consequence, lawyers are frequently called upon to represent their clients in mediation. 2 Mediation may come about: by private arrangement between the parties; as a result of legislative directive; or as a consequence of * Associate Professor of Law, Bond University. The author would like to thank the anonymous referees for helpful feedback on earlier drafts, and University of New South Wales Law Journal editorial team. 1 Most courts and tribunals in Australia either encourage or compel the parties to proceedings to attend mediation, sometimes as a prerequisite to commencing litigation. Mediation is also used extensively in many quasi-government institutions in Australia. See Samantha Hardy and Olivia Rundle, Mediation for Lawyers (CCH, 2010) 262–75 (the authors list 109 mediation schemes operating in Australia). Similar developments have occurred in other common law jurisdictions, and indeed, in civil law countries. This article draws on case law and literature from a number of jurisdictions for there is a dearth of literature from any one jurisdiction dealing with ‘ADR Ethics’ – a term which has been used to describe a new field of expertise which combines ethics, legal ethics and dispute resolution: see, eg, Phyllis Bernard and Bryant Garth (eds), Dispute Resolution Ethics: A Comprehensive Guide (American Bar Association, 2002); Scott R Peppet, ‘ADR Ethics’ (2004) 54 Journal of Legal Education 72. For discussion of the position in the United States (‘US’), see Wayne D Brazil, ‘Court ADR 25 Years after Pound: Have We Found a Better Way?’ (2002) 18 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 93, 112; Nancy A Welsh, ‘Stepping Back through the Looking Glass: Real Conversations with Real Disputants about Institutionalized Mediation and Its Value’ (2004) 19 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 573.
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