ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609160029
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
Society is undergoing a change in the way it resolves disputes, according to the chairman of the National Mediation Board.
There is a recognition, he said, that a "lean mediation" may be better than a "fat litigation," Kenneth Hipp said Friday at the annual meeting of Roanoke's Conflict Resolution Center.
The National Mediation Board is to the railroad and airline industries what the National Labor Relations Board is to the rest of American industry. The board - under authority given to it by the Railway Labor Act - deals with railway and airline labor disputes.
The Conflict Resolution Center is one of the voluntary agencies that help make Roanoke a workable community, Hipp said.
Hipp identified basic principles that he said successful mediators follow. They go into a mediation prepared, he said. They communicate with a directness that is clear and lacks ambiguity. They identify the interests of the parties before they start discussions and consider what options are available for resolving disputes.
Successful mediators, he said, try to foster a relationship among the parties to ensure the long-term success of dispute resolution. They look for tools, economic or otherwise, that they can use for leverage. And they make sure agreements are put into writing before the parties leave mediation.
The Conflict Resolution Center was founded seven years ago to provide a voluntary way to settle disputes outside of court and was modeled after a similar center in Harrisonburg. The center operates with 45 volunteer mediators.
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