Ethics-Governance: Article: Point & Counterpoint: Should Agencies Mediate Their Own disputes?

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Point & Counterpoint: Should Agencies Mediate Their Own disputes? Point & Counterpoint: Should Agencies Mediate Their Own disputes? Elissa Tonkin and Peter Swanson. Proponents point to their successes... Skeptics say, 'You can't rely on an agency to be neutral in its own dispute. And that's only one of many potential pitfalls...'The fact is that government agencies do mediate their own disputes. Your selected article and the entire Mediate.com Library are yours for free. First we need a small amount of information to best serve you: I am: a member of the public a mediator (including attorney-mediator) an attorney other dispute resolution professional My area code is: or no area code (International) Thanks for the opportunity to serve you. Privacy Why we ask “Agency neutral" -- it has the ring of a perfect oxymoron. Right up there with jumbo shrimp, civil war, and fresh-frozen. After all, if you were embroiled in a dispute with, say, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, where could you possibly find a less "neutral" neutral than on EPA's payroll? And given the abundance of skilled outside mediators, why would you waste more than half a second of your time even considering it? These are fair questions, which probably enter the minds of many parties who are offered the services of oxymorons like myself to assist in resolving their EPA-related conflicts. Yet no one could be more amazed than I at the increasing frequency with which our modest fleet of in-house mediators has been invited by outside parties to function in a neutral capacity. . Based on this limited but growing body of experience, I have become convinced that the availability of in-house neutrals is a valuable option when it is put forward in a responsible way. Setting aside, for the moment, the question of whether it is a good idea, why do parties elect to use in-house neutrals? Usually for a combination of reasons, which fall loosely into two categories that I think of as: (1) Muted Minuses; and (2) Pluses. Full Article: http://www.mediate.com/articles/tonkandswanC.cfm


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