Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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“My behavior toward my mother is shameful. I am filled with shame.”

I felt the heaviness in mediation part Bill’s heart, and his vulnerability. His wife, and his lawyers and advisers, were silent as I weighed my response. Bill’s eyes and mine were locked together.

I heard these words late in the day in a mediation caucus from a middle-aged man in a case between brothers who were partners in a real estate venture.

John and Bill inherited a family real estate operation from their deceased father that John, the younger brother, was running on a daily basis in their hometown after Bill moved away eight years previously. Bill, who had been active, was now passive, yet maintained an equal ownership interest.