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Aloha from Honolulu Hawaii where it is warm and, if daytime, sunny right now.  If you are coming to Hawaii and have an interest in what's going on in the ADR world in these islands do not hesitate to send me an e-mail.  Believe it or not I have received a few inquiries from people who cannot leave their passion for ADR behind. 

I will be chaning the name of the firm and the contact information in August 2008 to Mediate with LH, LLC.

Welcome to my site. I hope you find information meeting your needs.

If you don’t find information you need give me a call at 808-393-0687 or send me an e-mail through the “contact me” button on this web site or at mediatewithkh@mediate.com.

What’s this site about (besides my practice)?

This site is dedicated to Conflict Resolution between people in relationships like personal, business, or event related.  It could be a relationship formed by family, a contract, a car accident, or even a dog bite.  Having mediated several dog bite cases, I can appreciate why attorneys rue the day they accept a dog bite case.

There are many forms of conflict resolution from, direct negotiation through litigation and unfortunately, taking matters into ones own hands culminating in violence.  We reject violence.  You may know someone in conflict who just does not know what to do.  Hopefully this page will help.

This site is about mediation and how it should be part of your consideration in conflict resolution and, of course, what I offer in this area.

Mediation can be defined as a continuation of negotiation using the skills of a mediator as an intermediary to empower opponents to:

1.      listen to each other

2.      collaborate with each other

3.      problem solve or bargain (for example, over a purely monetary sum)

4.      achieve mutual agreement

5.      on a purely voluntary basis.

Isn’t this strange?  Where’s the discovery, depositions, evidence, presentation of my side of the story? 

Where’s the judge, the attorneys, the public forum of open court?

In most mediations these activities and personages are not there.  Success in mediation is determined by the ability of opponents to negotiate, to bargain, to create and embrace opportunities for resolving differences to result in agreement.  The process and the information shared are highly protected as confidential under state statutes or court rules.

Examples may help:

Case 1. Two people enter into a contractual agreement, a lease, creating a landlord and tenant relationship.  The lease expires. In the move out inspection the landlord points to problems he claims were caused by the tenant.  A dispute arises.  Tensions get so high the landlord and tenant are unable to talk to each other.  They decide to work with a mediator to reconcile their differences.

Case 2. Same situation as in Case 1, except the case proceeded down a litigation path through a complaint filed in small claims court.  Maybe the landlord withheld the security deposit and tenant wants the money back.  The court orders the landlord and tenant into mediation.

In either case landlord and tenant find themselves in a mediation session. In Case 1 they enter into mediation voluntarily while in Case 2 they are ordered into mediation by a judge.  In case 1 landlord and tenant mutually agree on a mediator while in Case 2 they engage a court mediator.

Ok, so what’s the difference between mediation and litigation?

1. Mediation is “negotiation”, “bargaining”, “problem solving”.  Litigation is “advocacy”, “I win-you lose” or “you win – I lose”.  Litigation is an “evidentiary process”, built on law or and or precedent, often arcane language, heavily procedural.
2. Mediation utilizes a mediator to work with you and your opponent in a search for “common ground”, from there, to resolve issues, preserve interests, and meet of your and your opponent needs.  Litigation uses an arbitrator or a judge to hear your and your opponents arguments and the legal basis upon which their decision should go in your favor.
3. In mediation, each of you decide on a negotiation strategy, what to present, and most importantly agreement has to be mutual.  In litigation you and your opponent quiz each other, collect evidence before trial, and based on a set of rules which permit or exclude what you can present, the “evidence” is presented at trial to a trier of fact.  The arbitrator, jury, or judge makes the decision on who wins and who looses.
4. In mediation, agreements are the only documents produced.  Mediation agreements contain clauses you and your opponent want contained in the document.  They are flexible.  Court judgments are more limited. 
5. In either case, if an agreement or judgment fails or is breached, both allow for follow-up action.
6. Remember, mediation is negotiation, collaborative and/or competitive.  Litigation is advocacy of a position where one side wins the other looses.

So what does my firm do?

As a mediator my practice is divided into areas:

I.  Private voluntary mediations. You and your opponent hire me to serve as your mediator.

• I work with you and your opponent to prepare yourselves and myself for mediation sessions.
• I learn what the case is about.
• I learn what your respective positions are.
• I learn about what type of “negotiation” each of you plan to conduct.
• I work with each of you to formulate an approach which we agree has the best chance of finding “common ground.”
• We plan out and schedule the mediation sessions.
• We meet for a mediation session:
• Joint sessions are held with you and your opponent present at the same time and in the same room when we all agree you and your opponent are able to listen to each other directly.
• Separate sessions are held where we agree it is best I act as a conduit for the exchange of communications.
• A combination of the two, separate and joint sessions, depending on such factors as:
• Emotions
• Needs for discussions by each side with me, the mediator
• Confidentiality of communications which each of you may wish to share with the mediator without divulging it to the other side.
• We negotiate until there is an outcome, which can be:
•  an agreement on all issues
• partial agreement on some aspects of the dispute
• no agreement because either you or your opponent or both decide to pursue litigation or you agree to continue trying in additional mediation sessions because you have not quite figured out a solution yet.

II. Court Ordered Mediation – At some point in the litigation process the judge orders you and your opponent to mediation.

I could be your court appointed mediator, your choice to mediate your case (you would hire me to mediate the case), or you could run into me at the community mediation center if that is where you go to mediate.

As a court appointed or community mediation center mediator I follow the model established by the court.  If you hire me to handle your case I handle it the same way I handle voluntary mediation. 

III. Pro bono community mediation – Most mediators do some level of pro bono mediation.  In my practice I do pro bono work in district court, small claims, and try to get at least 2 to 3 pro bono cases per month at the Mediation Center of the Pacific.  My pro bono work is conducted using the model the Mediation Center has developed.

IV. Special Projects – As the mediation field is still developing I have two areas on which I am currently focusing.  These are:

·         construction capital portfolio conflict management

·         meaningful religious dialogue leading to practical steps towards reconciliation

Discussion about the special projects will appear in separate pages on this web site in the near future.

 With Aloha, Leo