This Week in Mediation #1,141
June 3, 2026 | Our 31st Year
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In This Issue
Modernizing Mediation and More: Welcoming Morgan (Mo) Tregenza and the Common Ground Podcast! • Legal AI: From Possibility to Practice • The Real Practice Systems Negotiation and Mediation Coach (RPS Coach) Has a New Home at Mediate.com • AI Just Changed Again. Here’s What Actually Matters with Susan Guthrie on Practice Playbook Podcast • Mediator Proposals: Timing, Function, and the Risk of Premature Use • The Problem of Problematizing • Agreement to Mediate That Incorporates Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use • When Mediation.com and Thomas Pronesti Turned Adversarial • The 2026 Global ODR Forum • Safe Haven: Managing Threats and Violence in Mediation • One Battle After Another… Until Mediation: Winning Strategies for Settling Entertainment and Complex Business Disputes • Mediate.com Book Club Video – Mental Health and Conflicts • This Week’s Mediation News • Training Calendar
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 SAVE 25% on Mediate’s Statewide Banners and Dramatically Expand the Geography of Your Online Mediation Practice!
Save 25% on your Annual Statewide Banner During June! When a visitor comes to Mediate.com, we are able to determine what state the visitor resides in and we then display your custom banner both at the top of the Mediate.com home page and in the body of our articles for every visitor from your state! Save 25% during June with coupon code “Save25” – See Sample Statewide Banners!
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Modernizing Mediation and More: Welcoming Morgan (Mo) Tregenza and the Common Ground Podcast!
with Colin Rule and Morgan Tregenza
In this special episode, new host Morgan Tregenza sits down with outgoing host and ODR pioneer Colin Rule for a candid conversation about the state of dispute resolution — and why now is the time to reclaim its soul. Colin traces his own journey from a grassroots Quaker-trained peacemaker in the late ’80s to one of the most influential voices in online dispute resolution, and reflects on how a once-electric movement has become absorbed into the very establishment it sought to transform.
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Legal AI: From Possibility to Practice
with host Bob Amborgi, Colin Rule, Tracey Frisch and Kelly Turner
AI has moved from possibility to practice in alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The focus now must be on how we implement it responsibly. This is one of the major themes discussed in the latest episode of the LawNext PR podcast with host Bob Amborgi, ODR.com President and CEO Colin Rule, AAA DVP of Mediation Tracey Frisch, and AAA VP and Associate General Counsel Kelly Turner.
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The Real Practice Systems Negotiation and Mediation Coach (RPS Coach) Has a New Home at Mediate.com!
By John Lande
The Real Practice Systems Negotiation and Mediation Coach (RPS Coach) is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to help mediators, lawyers, parties, ADR program managers, educators, students, and scholars. RPS Coach is designed to promote good decision-making by participants in negotiation and mediation as well as to support education, training, and reform in various settings.
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 Dive into AI 2026
We will also soon be posting our 2026 recorded Deep Dive videos for all Mediate.com Members. Our Dive into AI mediation community continues to explore AI together. Mediate.com hosts bi-monthly discussions on emerging AI tools and best practices. This series is FREE for Members. On June 3 we have two guest speakers: John Lande, to talk about how to use his RPS Coach in everyday mediation practice, and Bob Bergman will present his Anonymyzer program to keep participants’ private information safe when using AI. We also reserve time at the end of every meeting to discuss your AI discoveries and questions.
Location: www.Mediate.com/Zoom or https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6492416033 |
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AI Just Changed Again. Here’s What Actually Matters with Susan Guthrie on Practice Playbook Podcast
with Susan Guthrie
If opening LinkedIn lately has made you feel like AI evolved while you were busy working, you are not imagining it. The changing face of AI has real implications, and things are shifting faster than most professionals realize. We are no longer in the era of asking AI to draft an email. What professionals are navigating now is the movement from AI as a tool to AI as infrastructure, and that distinction changes everything about how competitive advantage gets built and lost. The real question is no longer whether AI is interesting or useful. It is what happens when your competitors begin operating with a fundamentally different level of leverage?
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Mediator Proposals: Timing, Function, and the Risk of Premature Use
By Jason Hisey
Mediator proposals are a well-established tool within the mediation process, often relied upon when negotiations appear to stall or when the parties reach a point where voluntary movement becomes difficult. In its simplest form, a mediator’s proposal allows the neutral to present a recommended resolution, typically on a confidential, accept-or-reject basis, without either party knowing the other’s response unless both accept. When used at the right time and under the right circumstances, this approach can be highly effective in bringing a matter to resolution. At the same time, the effectiveness of a mediator’s proposal is closely tied to timing, and that is where the challenge often lies. |
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The Problem of Problematizing
By John Potter
Problematizing has become an increasingly central maneuver in modern facilitation, particularly in contexts shaped by critical social justice frameworks. It invites participants to question assumptions and interrogate power. At its best, it prevents superficial agreement and provides for voices that might otherwise remain unheard. At its worst, it becomes the goal. This is the problem of problematizing.
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 Integrating AI into Family Mediation – New 2 Hour Video Now Available
with Jim Melamed
This video and slide presentation are from Jim’s May 6, 2026 2-hour workshop “A Brave New World: Integrating AI into Family Mediation” presented to the Massachusetts Council for Family Mediation (MCFM). See the sample video and order here. Introductory price of only $49! Mediate.com Members save 20%.
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Agreement to Mediate That Incorporates Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use
By Jim Melamed
The following Agreement to Mediate updates previous iterations by directly addressing the use of Artificial Intelligence in mediation for both administrative and substantive functions. As to administrative AI (contact, intake, scheduling, payment and the like) the key issue is that the mediator is careful to never disclose mediation participants’ personal identifying information (PII). As to the use of AI to help Participants jointly and/or individually consider substantive issues in the mediation, the key for the mediator is “transparency.”
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When Mediation.com and Thomas Pronesti Turned Adversarial
By Eric Friedman
When my New Jersey mediation practice decided to stop using services associated with Mediation.com and related entities connected to Thomas Pronesti, I expected an ordinary vendor transition. What followed from Mediation.com (not Mediate.com!) instead included disputed charges, escalating demands for payment, online conflict, reputational concerns, and ultimately a police report filed with the Livingston Police Department in New Jersey. Please contact the author at [email protected] if you have also had substantial difficulties with Mediation.com, Innovative Marketing or other entities connected to Thomas Pronesti.
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 The 2026 Global ODR Forum
By Colin Rule
We hope you’ll be able to join us for the 2026 ODR Forum, happening June 11, 2026 at the Rubenstein Treehouse conference center at Harvard University! This year’s ODR Forum is also paired with another gathering, the AI and Resolutions conference, happening the next day, June 12, 2026 at Suffolk Law School.
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AAA Magazine Featured Articles
Safe Haven: Managing Threats and Violence in Mediation
Safe Haven: Managing Threats and Violence in Mediation
By Francine Friedman Griesing The issues surrounding actual or threatened physical violence in mediation are complex and multifaceted. The focus here is fourfold: (1) assessing whether mediation is appropriate for all disputes; (2) meeting ethical and professional responsibilities to ensure a safe environment for mediation; (3) employing effective strategies to prevent and manage where there is potential for threats or actual violence; and (4) recognizing customized procedures for domestic disputes. |
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One Battle After Another … Until Mediation: Winning Strategies for Settling Entertainment and Complex Business Disputes
By David Shraga
Hollywood mediations never follow the same script. Their drama is high, emotional arcs soar, and the protagonists are saints today and then villains tomorrow. For the cast of characters – clients, litigators, and mediators alike – the settlement process is a stage upon which they all play their part. On the one hand, this compelling ensemble performance is animated by the hope of catharsis that brings closure to their stories. On the other, tensions run high when a false step can find them washed up once again on the rocky shores of ongoing litigation.
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 20% off at MediateUniversity.com for Mediate.com Members!
Mediate.com Membership
Would you like to get more mediation cases by being in the world’s most used mediator directory and also be able to access all Mediate.com resources? Update: Mediate.com Membership Benefits now also include access to MediatorDojo and 20% off at MediateUniversity.com! See: www.mediate.com/Membership. |
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MediatorDojo
by Josh Remis, Colin Rule, Clare Fowler and Jim Melamed
MediatorDojo is here! Mediate.com has long provided mediators with trusted educational opportunities, practical tools and a place to keep learning. Mediator Dojo is our most recent super-cool step in this tradition: a way for mediators to gain realistic mediation practice experience with useful feedback and on your own schedule! Check Out MediatorDojo!
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 Mediate.com Book Club Video – Mental Health and Conflicts
with Dan Berstein
On May 20, 2026, the “Great Reads” Book Club focused on the Dan Berstein‘s book Mental Health and Conflicts: A Handbook for Empowerment. In his book, Dan Berstein offers practical, accessible tools to help people navigate these moments with more clarity and confidence. See the video here. See ALL historic Book Club videos here.
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THIS WEEK’S MEDIATION NEWS
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TRAINING CALENDAR
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• June 8-11 – Basic 40-hour Mediation Training
• June 11-22 – Emotions and Feelings are Welcome Here
• June 22-24 – 30-hour Advanced Civil/Family Mediation Training
• June 22-25 – The ABC’s of Conflict – Western Justice Center
• July 10-18 – 40-hour Family and Divorce Mediation Training
• July 13-30 – NYSCDM 60-hour Divorce Mediation Training
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Editors: Jim Melamed and Clare Fowler
We welcome your comments and feedback: [email protected]
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