Host: Is mediation only for people who can get along?

John Spiegel: Mediation can work well in high conflict cases as well as in amicable divorces. I actually enjoy the challenge of the hard cases and even when people come into in my office and the thing looks very nasty, people are saying things that are very harsh and they are having difficulty focusing on the specific issues that are under discussion, I still feel like I have to wind it my back because I believe that, it is just an inherent part of human nature that people want to find solution that work well for everybody.

My experience is that with the tools of mediations that are available to me, it is often possible after a kind of exciting rough start to a mediation process, that people will get right down to work and do beautiful work, and do which is fine. So, I find that really the overwhelming majority of people can do very good work in mediation.