Gregory Vijayendran SC, a disputes partner practising with Rajah and Tann LLP and SIMC Specialist Mediator, suggests that lawyers are in a favourable position to help their clients resolve, remove and recover from hurts arising from disputes.
“There is this dimension which exists even in commercial disputes, and that is the need for some form of closure… there is a need for healing or reconciliation of that relationship, and I think this is the rich dimension that we as lawyers can bring: the lawyers a peacemaker, the lawyer as a healer,” says Greg.
Watch the full interview or read the interview transcript below. We thank Greg for sharing his views.
You have mediated several cases with SIMC. Can you recall one that illustrates your mediation style?
I was very blessed to be able to do this mediation under the auspices of SIMC, and very strongly and ably supported by my SIMC colleagues. During this mediation Rheann was present in the course of the mediation as well. The unique and challenging aspect of this mediation was that it was entirely online. And the reason for that was we had one party that was based overseas, and we had one party that was based locally, and that would have been at a symmetry, if we were to have a physical mediation. But online mediation was pragmatic, it was necessary, it was essential from the point of view of even access to justice, and a workable solution.
It was a financial dispute, and I think we were able to take it as far as we reasonably could, despite the challenges, including the fact that for one of the parties, the decision maker was not part of the mediation, and there needed to be approvals or a mandate from there. We were not able to close (the case) on the day itself. I didn’t want to lose that momentum because I felt we had come so far and this was something that was bridgeable.
And so I was quite perseverant and intentional to follow up with both sides’ counsel, and to see what I could do even through emails following on from the mediation, to see how I could helpfully facilitate, gently nudge parties to come and find this common ground and to also be able to impress on them that in a difficult economic time. It is important to find cost-effective solutions of this nature. And voila, I think all the efforts by counsel and the parties having some time to reflect as well after the mediation proper at SIMC, saw the light and inked the deal.
Why does mediation spark joy for you?
Abraham Lincoln, the former US President, famously quipped, “as a peacemaker, the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man, there will still be business enough.”
Now, that’s true, both for men and women and I think he’s right. There is this valuable opportunity that we as lawyers have, to add a dimension to our practice by being a peacemaker via mediation.
And for me, personally, the great joy is in being able to play a part, a facilitative part, working with counsel and with their clients to find an alternative dispute resolution, an appropriate dispute resolution that is cost-effective, that reduces the anxiety, uncertainty, fears, tensions that come with that dispute over their heads, and in a way that allows them to move on and to be able to walk away from that dispute knowing that there is certainty in this outcome, knowing that this was the solution to the problem that they helped to co-create.
How has mediation changed the way you view life, and lawyering? Any final thoughts?
I have one other final thought to add, to also share with all of you who are watching this, and that is the dimension of healing, or relational reconciliation. What do I mean by that?
Oftentimes, I think when a dispute comes to us as a mediator, or we are an advocate practising a mediation advocacy to try and resolve the matter before a mediator, we are focused on the immediate dispute, we are focused on the here and now, we’re focused on the transaction in that sense. And we want to resolve it; we know the tools that we can bring to bear on it from the cost effectiveness to the certainty of outcome, to the collaboration, to comparing it against the worst case and so on.
But there is this dimension which exists even in commercial disputes, and that is the need for some form of closure from a relational point of view and also from a healing point of view. For example, companies may continue to work with each other long after the dispute has been resolved. In the context of personal disputes, people will still need to meet up, cooperate, interact with one another. And there is a need for healing or reconciliation of that relationship.
And I think this is the rich dimension that we as lawyers can bring: the lawyers a peacemaker, the lawyer as a healer.