In the last three decades, mediation has been increasingly used in the United States and elsewhere. Much has been written about the philosophical underpinnings and ethical dilemmas of mediation as well as its applications both within judicial systems and beyond the limits of these systems. However, some very basic challenges remain: How can entrenched positions, strong emotions, and cultural differences be dealt with? Mediation expertise is truly achieved when a mediator learns to overcome these challenges through experience and intuition.

To speed up the learning curve of mediation expertise, Jean Poitras and Susan Raines have benchmarked the mediation process in Expert Mediators: Overcoming Mediation Challenges in Workplace, Family, and Community Conflicts. Tapping the experience and wisdom of over 175 highly qualified mediators from across different realms of the mediation practice (e.g., family mediation, workplace mediation, commercial mediation) and across geographic regions (e.g., U.S., Australia, Europe, Israel, Canada), this book integrates best practices in order to improve the performance of mediators. For each proposed strategy, this book discusses conditions under which each practice should be used as well as approaches to mitigate risks associated with using each strategy and technique.

Jean Poitras, PhD, is an associate professor of conflict management at HEC Montréal in Canada. He developed comprehensive knowledge of conflict management through his experience as a consultant and the conclusions of his research work. For more than 15 years now, Professor Poitras has been helping professionals develop their skills in negotiation and mediation. His research program focuses on the intervention strategies used in mediation and negotiation, as well as on the development of diagnostic tools to measure the levels of conflict in organizations. Professor Poitras has published numerous articles and books on mediation, negotiation and conflict management. He is a member of the editorial review boards of several publications: Conflict Resolution Quarterly, International Journal of Conflict Management, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, Negotiation Journal.

Susan Raines, PhD, is a professor of conflict management at Kennesaw State University (Georgia, USA). Professor Raines has designed and evaluated conflict management systems for the United States Postal Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Florida Supreme Court, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the DeKalb County (GA) Dispute Resolution Center, as well as for several private sector employers (many of whom require confidentiality as part of their contract). Additionally, she has mediated and arbitrated more than 10,000 commercial and civil disputes, trained commercial mediators and arbitrators for the European Union, trained United Nations managers in conflict management, intervened in many workplace conflicts for various consulates based in Atlanta and abroad, etc. She has published scholarly articles on mediation and best practices in mediation training and is also the editor of Conflict Resolution Quarterly.