Doing Well by Doing Good? A Los Angeles Mediator Speaks Up

Christine von Wrangel has published a timely article in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, For Many Mediators, Promise of Doing Well by Doing Good Remains Elusive. Because the DJ doesn't make its articles available on-line and because I have only a sideways .pdf of the thing, I'm providing it to the SCMA's readers in full here.

I suspect, however, that this article will quickly make its way onto the pages of LAMediators.org on whose Board of Governors Christine sits (nice looking web site you all!) and where many other articles on this topic reside (see here).

Los Angeles Mediators is a must-see website for anyone who continues to be interested in the on-going public discussion concering processes and procedures of the Los Angeles Superior Court pro bono panel.

Mediation: A Lucrative Career or a Ticket to the Poor House?

by Christine von Wrangel

Universities such as Pepperdine, Loyola, USC, Arizona State, Hastings, Cardoza, Colorado George Washington State, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn, as well as state and local bar associations and private mediation offices, advertise courses on mediation to hopeful future mediators. Yes, ADR is "en vogue."

Most universities and bar associations, including the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA), offer several mediation courses annually. This summer alone, Pepperdine offered 16 domestic and international mediation and conflict resolution courses. Loyola offers conflict resolution courses approximately twice a year with classes of up to 35 students, emphasizing communication and how to deal with difficult people.

Almost every accredited or unaccredited university has jumped on the “mediation” bandwagon. Enrolling in these courses can cost students from $500 to well over $1,000 per course, depending on the provider. For universities, retired judges, conflict resolution institutions, government and private mediation providers, the business of offering mediation courses has become lucrative.

Marketing companies have now jumped on the band wagon, promising they can help mediators find a profitable niche in the market, provided of course they are willing to pay the thousands of dollars it takes to launch a marketing campaign.

Who are the winners in this mediation frenzy? Clearly, the providers of mediation training courses and related services.

Who are the losers? The students enrolling in these courses, because most have been lead to believe that they will be able to carve out a living as a mediator after “graduation.” And this is rarely the case.

Are these students informed that the market is already glutted with mediators? A glimpse on the internet reveals thousands of offerings in mediation, conflict resolution and related courses, trainings, and fields. Most providers charge a fee.

Is it ethical to continue to inundate the market with more mediation courses and classes, when most students who graduate face a superfluity of mediation providers, with little hope to start a successful mediation practice?

Why would people continue to enroll in mediation and other related courses despite the meager opportunities of earning a living as a mediator?

Students enrolling in any type of university courses, frequently pursue several goals: A desire to learn more about a particular subject they are interested in, a need to acquire useful skills to earn a better living, and to recuperate the costs they incurred, after having enrolled in the courses.

Do the universities and institutions offering these courses tell students the truth about the real prospects of a career in mediation? Will we continue to see more mediators struggling to survive, or continue to work for free? Clearly, the mediators donating their time at the Los Angeles Superior Court are taken for granted.

Why does the Superior Court pay every judge, secretary, clerk, and janitor, yet refuses to pay the mediators?

I took the LACBA class in 2003, to comply with my CLE requirements. During the course, the instructors represented that mediators could earn a good living, without the hassles of working in a stressful environment, such as a law office or a corporation. None of the instructors mentioned that over two thousand mediators must donate three hours pro bono for every case referred by the Los Angeles Superior Court, amounting to millions of free hours over the years. The reality is that while those mediators provide a valuable service, lawyers rarely pay the mediators.

To get chosen from the pay panel is like finding a needle in a haystack. Perhaps a couple of mediators a week may get on the pay panel where they can charge $450 for the first three hours. However, only very few mediators working for the LA Superior Court are independently wealthy and can afford to work pro bono.

Mediation may be interesting, challenging, and meaningful for the individual, society and many professionals. Many mediators pride themselves in creating a more harmonious, peaceful society. Yet only few mediators have succeeded to establish a practice which allows them to not only spread harmony and piece but also earn a comfortable living.