The Practice of Mediation: A Video-integrated Text

This exceptional, all-original book is the first to fully integrate text and video. It combines sophisticated textual analysis of the mediation process with a six-hour DVD illustrating the stages of the mediation process, the skills of effective mediators and the role of lawyers representing clients in the process. Designed for clinical or simulation courses, The Practice of Mediation: A Video-Integrated Text is sure to become the mediation skills text of choice.

This text is the ultimate integration of theory and practice in that:

• each volume contains unscripted, high quality video depicting nine professional mediators, of different backgrounds and orientations, mediating three different disputes, with very different results
• the DVD extracts are fully integrated with the text, enabling students to “see” what they are studying as they read, and enabling instructors to save precious classroom time by assigning DVD extracts to be viewed and analyzed outside of class
• the mediations depicted on the DVD — a child custody case, a small claims consumer dispute, and a premises liability suit filed by a tenant against his former landlord-are based on real cases, selected for their varied contexts and dispute characteristics
• the DVD illustrates a wide range of mediator and lawyer conduct and includes an extended comparative example of facilitative and evaluative mediation of the same matter

Accessible and conversational in style, the text draws on the most recent research in the field and:

• explores and recognizes all of the major approaches to mediation, helping students, as prospective neutrals and client representatives, analyze how the characteristics of a dispute and the context of the mediation setting might affect what mediation approach(es) will best suit each case
• sets out a model of mediation, from information gathering through persuasion, that can be applied in community and court settings, and in disputes ranging from family and employment to small claims and large commercial matters
• examines in detail all the major ethical and role issues that mediators and lawyers representing clients in mediation encounter

Unique in its approach and designed to maximize the classroom experience, this is an outstanding teaching package. The carefully crafted Teacher's Manual includes:

• sample syllabi and teaching suggestions for how the book can be used in a variety of course configurations
• short classroom exercises, games, role-plays and longer simulations , debriefing notes and references to the leading books and articles in the field
• a website for adopters will facilitate the exchange of teaching idea