Alternative Dispute Resolution
Dec. 19, 2015
In mediation, be willing to suspend disbelief
I often wonder what would happen to the mediation process if more lawyers and parties were willing to suspend their disbelief that mediators are just manipulative 'tools.'
Robert S. Mann
Neutral
ADR Services, Inc.
Email: rmann@adrservices.com
Robert mediates and arbitrates business, real estate and construction disputes.
"Willing suspension of disbelief" is a phrase credited to the famous English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. After Coleridge published his epic poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (water, water, everywhere nor any drop to drink), he explained that he structured the poem in a manner that required his readers to "suspend judgement" because of the implausible and somewhat fantastical nature of the story. Coleridge used the phrase, the "willing sus...
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