Mediator Betty McManus sits at the round mediation table, with the disputants - a landlord, a tenant and their attorneys - on either side. The tenant has sued the landlord, saying he refused to make essential repairs. The landlord is convinced he did nothing wrong. The tenant sits ramrod straight, with a determined look on her face. The landlord has dug into his chair.
    McManus knows something about the case. She has read the briefs. But she still must be a detective, probing beneath the legal arguments to explore why the case remains unsettled.
    "We want to know what it would take to resolve this lawsuit to make it go away," she tells them.
    McManus, her voice soothing, sets the ground rules both sides must follow: Treat each other with respect, and don’t interrupt. She explains that everything in the session is off the record and can never be used as evidence in court. She cannot be a witness for either side.
    Landlord and tenant then explain their positions. McManus warns them there is no point in trying to argue the rightness of their case. She is not there to judge who is right or wrong. But each has trouble resisting the impulse to persuade McManus. From time to time, she urges them to look at each other while they are explaining their position. She says later that she needs to slow down the process, stop the parties from reacting.
    During the session lasting three and a half hours, McManus attempts to get the two to step back, look at the bigger picture, the potential advantages of solving the case themselves rather than pursuing their issues in court. She gives them a reality check by asking each side in private to talk about the weaknesses of their case. She tells them that all the litigants who come to mediation are convinced they are going to win in court, but "not everybody does."
    She meets with each side individually, then together.
    By the end of the session, the disputants have not reached agreement. But there is movement. They seem closer to a settlement. Proposals have been made, and a timetable set. The hard rhetorical edges have softened. "I think we have made considerable progress today," McManus concludes. (The case remains unresolved, although an attorney reports progress is being made in a settlement before a court date in the next few months.)

- Lynne Carrier