Success without Success

I am hesitant to say that mediation has turn a corner here, aware that I may just be in a sweet spot of situations, but things are looking up, and on the heals of the affidavit impugning my character no less.

Yesterday, I had a mediation with parties both local and international (and I know I have not spoken with much specificity about my mediation sessions, which is a direct result of abiding by the Commercial Court's Confidentiality rules concerning everything involved with the mediation--which means I will use as many details as I can without breaking the rules so you can understand the situation). In this mediation, I had a person who had flown in from another country far away the night before and was flying out the next day, so the pressure was on to try and reach some sort of settlement or resolution. As it turned out, we did not settle, and yet I consider the mediation to have been a rousing success. How is that, you ask?

First, something about mediation. As I was trained, the goal of mediation is to help the parties come to "informed decision-making." This means that regardless of settlement/resolution or not, you can be successful in mediation. As much as I identify with that, I have been skeptical, focusing more on trying to get the parties that come through my office to find a resolution either through collaboration--possibly in the form of future business dealings together--or in the form of compromise--negotiating a settlement between the parties so that they can both move on. Mediation is mandatory here in the Commercial Court. EVERY case that is filed is supposed to go through the mediation process to either settle or be sent back to the judge for adjudication. So there is a real desire to see the parties settle their dispute, not only for the parties sake but also for the court's sake in reducing the back log. But let me pause to say once again: I CANNOT MAKE ANYONE SETTLE. Just wanted to make that clear once again.

So here is a large dispute over somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/2 a Million US Dollars, large international companies and local companies, a person who has flown a long way, and here we are mediating. We go around for about two hours then I split the parties up and start caucusing (private meetings with each side), and it comes down to the fact that one side is not in a position of willingness to collaborate or compromise. I push and prod and appeal to every angle I can see or think of, from the risk of court to the strength of the claim, to help them assess whether there is any avenue of resolution. And when it came down to it, there was no avenue, at least that I was able to find. And though the other side made an initial offer, there was no compromise. When we concluded after three hours of mediation, I encouraged the parties to keep talking with each other, and one of the parties said they could use more information to assess its position, to which I encouraged the parties to help each other and let them all know that if they would like to come back--because Court would be at least 8-12 months away--that I would leave room on my calendar for them to continue mediating.

Afterward, the person from the country far away, who was a lawyer and also a mediator, said that it was one of the best mediations they had been apart of (which really wasn't a bust to the ego as much as it was an encouragement to keep trying, because positioning yourself in the middle of conflict all the time gets tiring and really discouraging if people do not come to a resolution despite all your efforts). Everyone walked away, though without a resolution, with a better sense of what the situation was from both sides and how to possibly move forward in the future. Essentially, they both came to an informed decision--one with a willingness to compromise and the other with the realization they were not in a position to meaningfully compromise.

And that was an instructive moment for me. Success in mediation does not always mean settlement: a lesson I needed to learn.

. . .but here's to hoping that more resolutions happen (which they already are--I look forward to telling you all the best story of mediation so far in Uganda, but I need to wait a little while longer to make sure it fully concludes before I share).

Peace to you all.

Sunset

Sunsets in Africa are breathtaking, even ones in town. Here is one I took near the top of the road that runs in front of the Commercial Court looking down in the downtown area. I wish I could get a picture right into the sunset, but there are obvious obstacles to that. Enjoy.



*All photos are copyright John M. Napier unless otherwise indicated.*

An Object Lesson

I guess it had to happen some time. At some point of the process, someone was going to complain about me or try and bring me down. Though I am not sure that I fully anticipated what would be said, I have had some tense moments with a few advocates here in Uganda, enough to figure it would come to this sooner or later.

But in a court affidavit? I can see the irony.

A court document was filed regarding a mediation I had last year, an advocate claimed, under oath, some very untrue and distorted things about me and the mediation process we had.

Now, I had a huge post ready, with many of his claims repeated and my responses in good detail answering them. But then I thought, what is the point? I know these accusations are untrue. The judges know they are not true. And the point for me is: If I am trying to be a peacemaker, what good would it do to use this blog as a pulpit to vindicate myself? What about forgiveness? If my name was truly sullied and I needed to defend myself I would. But I don't.

It would be entertaining to read some of his claims, and I may yet post some of them at some point to show how there is still a true misunderstanding of what mediation is and its purpose--or how some people just aren't willing to stick with their decisions.

But for now, I have been slandered and I am trying to let it go. It would be retaliatory for me to post my responses to these false accusations, and I don't want to retaliate. I want to forgive and love despite being spited. While this may sound like I am trumpeting a virtue and taking the high road, this really isn't true. Honestly, I am still flabbergast at the accusations, and while they make me laugh (out loud), I also really want to publicly respond and give this advocate a piece of my mind. In reality, this post is a public declaration of my best intentions so that I will not devolve to underhanded means or revenge. A warning sign to myself.

So, hopefully I will have more interesting posts soon and some good pictures as well. For now, I am trying to let this slide off my back as best as possible. And frankly, that is more difficult than I thought it would be.