GAMBIT ASSIGNMENT
Mediation Advocacy Gambits
"What Do I Say When I ..." Gambits (2 pages if single spaced, 4 pages double spaced) due the date of the final exam/paper. Submit them directly to me with your name on them. It is “credit/no credit.”
A "gambit" is defined as "a remark intended to start a conversation or make a telling point" or "a chess opening move in which a player risks one or more minor pieces to gain an advantage in position." Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
My intent is to have you create examples of phrases and sentences that an effective lawyer-advocate might say during a mediation. You already have a number of gambits at the end of the mediation section of my mediation handout. I called these "Mediator Practice Lines." We used other gambits in the questioning exercise, “What do you think is one of the most important issues facing Hawaii in the next 10 years? “
There are no right or wrong ways of creating these gambits. I am looking for some creative thinking about what a lawyer-advocate might say in a mediation.
I would like you to group or label your gambits so that I know what each gambit is intended to accomplish. For example, you would write "What Do I Say When lawyer-advocate I want to ...
… inform the mediator about your case
... respond to questions by the mediator
... ask questions about the other party
... get an offer from the other party
... actively engage the parties in the mediation process
... active listen the mediator
… make suggestions about how the mediation should proceed
... suggest ways of conveying your offer to the other party
... suggest particular impasse breaking techniques to the mediator
... suggest ways of conveying information and offers to the other side
... influence the agenda
... suggest only the lawyers or only the parties meet
... make other process suggestions
... present confidential information to the mediator
... get some negotiation coaching from the mediator
... ask for or defer a “mediator’s proposal”
... bargain effectively through the mediator
... suggest the other side is not playing fair and how to deal with that situation
... ask for or ask not to have the mediator’s assessment of the case
... end the mediation without reaching agreement
... etc
... – any other suggestion as to what an advocate can say to be effective
I hope to combine the gambits from the class and create a large list of possible gambits (without student names attached). I will make these gambits available to anyone who would like them.
Professor John Barkai