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Mediation & Arbitration Section Co-Chairs: LaraTibbals – TibbalsMediation, LLC & ChristineDerr – Harris, Hunt & Derr, P. A.
Tedlassoprovides amasterclassin mediationstrategy fortriallawyers andmediators.
Imagine walking into a mediation and discovering that your mediator is soccer coach, Ted Lasso. At first you would be alarmed, but is there any doubt that Ted Lasso would make an excellent mediator? Business consultants and coaches use the Ted Lasso television show to teach teamwork and leadership. At its core, Ted Lasso is a show about resolving human conflict, and it provides a master class in mediation strategy for trial lawyers and mediators.
It’ s Not Just About Understanding the Law— it’ s About Understanding People
Ted is clueless about soccer, but like a great mediator, he is outstanding at uncovering the needs of others and finding ways to make people with competing interests work together. Ted convinces Jamie Tartt, a selfabsorbed player concerned only with his own scoring, to pass to his teammates by showing him how that would ultimately lead him to greater personal success. The adversarial nature of litigation can sometimes cause litigators to default to argument during mediation and alienate the other side. Section 44.1011( 2), Florida Statutes requires that mediation be conducted in a“ non-adversarial” manner. Having practiced both transactional law
and litigation for two decades before becoming a mediator, I believe that mediation is much more like practicing transactional law than litigation. We should learn from our transactional law colleagues who create agreement between parties with competing agendas by understanding the other person’ s interests and crafting solutions that satisfy those needs. It’ s never just about the money.
Kindness and Empathy Create Trust
Due to his lack of experience, virtually everyone felt hostile toward Ted when he was named coach of a soccer team in the English Premier League. Ted won everyone over, not by showing how much he knew( this would have been hopeless), but by using his superpowers of empathy and kindness. Ted took Trent Crimm, his harshest critic in the press, to dinner and gave him full access to practices. He took every opportunity to connect and find common ground with his adversaries, and he ultimately won their trust and respect. Whether you are a mediator or trial lawyer, you should approach any hostile situation during mediation with kindness and understanding to bring the emotional temperature down regardless of how the other person is acting.
Great mediators also use their superpowers of empathy and emotional intelligence by taking every opportunity to find common ground with both the lawyers and the parties to uncover their unique needs and interests. This allows the mediator to create agreement where those interests meet.
Be Curious, Not Judgmental
Jason Sudeikis, the actor who plays Ted, describes him as“‘ ignorant and curious.” Ted asks questions of everyone with a humble curiosity that shows that he cares and values their knowledge and experience. Similarly, one of the mediator’ s most important tools is curiosity. A great mediator asks questions to better understand the case, and the people involved, and consequently gains respect both for taking an interest in the parties and for valuing the opinions of others. For example, when a party proposes making an offer that will not be well received, a good mediator exercises curiosity, not judgement, and asks how the offer will likely be responded to by the other side. This usually leads to the enlightenment of either the mediator or the party making the proposal.
Treat Everyone as Important Ted sees the best in people. He
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