This month marks my 25th year mediating cases. This had led me to think back on my first mediations and what I have learned since then.

I signed up as a volunteer mediator in New Hampshire in 2000, not long after ADR became mandatory for civil cases. At that point in time, the Clerk’s office would schedule three back-to-back mediations in one day, each lasting two hours. It was a strange combination of speed dating and mediating, all taking place at the courthouse.

I have mediated a lot of cases since then, and hope I have learned a few things about the mediation process. Here are some observations that might be helpful: