Glenn Reisman
I was trained as a mediator (in 2013) by Jack Himmelstein and Gary Friedman. https://understandinginconflict.org
Gary and Jack wrote the book “Challenging Conflict: Mediation Through Understanding” (ABA 2008).
The training was exceptional in part because it was conducted (1) to a group of 30 people of various ages, and only ½ were lawyers, and (2) at the Garrison Institute, a former monastery, where the trainees shared 3 meals a day, met informally in the evenings, and slept in spartan rooms.
The understanding-based form of mediation is guided by the following principles:
• Understanding (not coercion or persuasion)
• The primary responsibility for whether and how the dispute is resolved remains with the parties
• The parties should work together and make decisions together, and
• Conflicts are best resolved by uncovering what lies under the level at which the parties experience the problem
One aspect of this training is that the mediator must not suggest a resolution to the parties. This can be especially difficult for an attorney, who is used to giving advice, whether or not it is requested.
This differs from traditional mediation, where the parties frequently remain in different rooms, while the mediator moves back and forth between the rooms, explaining to each party the risks and cost of litigation (which should have previously been explained to the parties by their respective attorneys).
While I prefer to use the Understanding Method of Mediation, when it is applicable, my experience qualifies me to conduct the traditional form of mediation.
After graduating from Hamilton College in 1972, I attended Albany Law School of Union University, where I was Comments Editor of the Albany Law Review.
During the first year after graduation, I remained in Albany, as Law Clerk for James T. Foley, the Chief Judge of the US District Court for the Northern District of New York.
I then relocated to New York City, where I spent four frustrating years as a litigator in a Manhattan law firm, doing battle in both Federal and State courts.
As a law firm litigator, I saw how expensive and wasteful the litigation process can be (especially in Manhattan).
In 1980, I was recruited by General Electric Company to be the first in-house counsel for its Credit & Collections (& Bankruptcy) operation (these duties were previously provided on a part-time basis by a GE attorney who lacked litigation experience). I represented various GE industrial businesses (not lenders) that manufacture equipment and provide related services to its customers.
At the end of 1992, GE dissolved this service operation, so that the employees could be assigned to specific GE businesses, rather than working at a service operation that assisted all of the businesses. I wa
