Mediate! Don’t litigate!

I was coming out of the subway the other day by NYC’s City Hall, and found myself in the middle of a demonstration.  A bunch of young people, all dressed in pea coats and  fisherman’s knit scarves and hats held were chanting, “Don’t go to court – mediate!” and “Mediate – don’t litigate!”  I was quickly given a handbill for the new TV series, Fairly Legal, which premiered last night.  The “demonstrators” were actually paid by a marketing firm…   While it seemed disingenuous, it was still fun, and they certainly were espousing something I believe in!

Meanwhile, the mediation community is all atwitter (pardon the pun) about the show.  This is, after all, a huge boost of publicity to our profession!

But is it accurate?  Well, no.  But are House or ER accurate portrayals of the medical profession?  I hope not.  Were LA Law or Law and Order or the myriad other legal shows accurate portrayals of the legal profession?  Negatory.

But hopefully this will pique some interest — and openness — to mediation as a way of addressing conflict solving problems.  And hopefully it will open up the dialog…