The Vanishing Trial: Land Mine on the Mediation Landscape or Opportunity for Evolution: Ruminations on the Future of Mediation Practice

Several decades ago, mediation developed as an alternative to the use of courts for resolving disputes. Over the years, the use of mediation to resolve lawsuits has greatly increased. The reasons for this evolution are numerous, and the primary underlying impetus for the use of mediation has, in many cases, impacted just how the process is conducted. For example, some view mediation as a process which provides individuals or groups engaged in a dispute or conflict with a collaborative and flexible process for dispute resolution.

This view of the process also encourages party participation and empowerment, which often allows relationships to be preserved. Others, however, see mediation merely as a procedure which accelerates settlement, thereby reducing the caseload for the courts and saving litigants time and money. These and other views have tended to influence how both mediators and the participants approach the process. Also quite influential have been the consequences of mediation's intersection with the legal system.

In fact, the blending of mediation and the court system, also known as court-annexed or court-connected mediation, could be viewed as both a blessing and a curse.