Blogger Background

Saturday, January 29, 2011

"Soon, no one will even know how to try a case!"

(01.29.2011)
This week I have had the most wonderful opportunity to meet with local attorneys for a variety of reasons. One meet up was in regard to an upcoming event where practitioners will have the chance to ask local judges for their candid response to a number of questions. As part of the planning for the event, we were brainstorming questions that could be posed to the judges. One attorney was formulating an idea that would question the frequency that judges refer cases to mediation. The response from another lawyer was: "If judges keep referring cases to mediation, soon no [attorney] will even know how to try a case!" From his tone, it was clear that this would be a travesty. No attorneys litigating would be the end of his world. Oddly, or perhaps obviously, it dawned on me that if we as a society got to a point where alternative dispute resolutions were the norm and not the exception, I would be the happiest attorney in town. Society needs a shift.

1 comment:

Eli said...

AMEN!

There'd also be kinder people in the world, judging from the long-term impact of teaching people to mediate rather than litigate.

If you have that easy-to-access list of those questions you brainstormed, would you send it my way? Maybe we can organize a similar event up here.