International Mediation Institute
www.IMImediation.org
Annual Review 2009
Introduction by IMI’s Chairman∗
For those of us whose profession or personal life presents the need to manage conflict, the constant challenge is to find ways to optimize our outcomes. We achieve this by assessing the risks and costs of a dispute that will be litigated or arbitrated. This does not mean that we always prefer arbitration or litigation. In fact, this will rarely be the case, especially when there are better means of achieving the desired outcomes.
Regardless of the place or type of dispute, mediation will often be the best tool for helping parties obtain what they expect from the circumstances that gave rise to their conflict, and avoiding the negative consequences of failing to settle it. Anyone who has experienced mediation sees its potential to flourish as a critical part of functioning societies and economies.
Mediation remains under-utilized in most countries. Even where adopted, access to qualified mediators and information about them and the process is uneven. Mediation is growing slower than its potential offers. Where mediators are plentiful, they tend to be in chronic over-supply.
In the view of many Users of dispute resolution services, this is not the fault of mediation but how it is presented - as an informal, “alternative” system based mainly on personal, first-hand experiences rather than as a true profession in its own right.
To emerge as a profession, mediation must be globally understood and accepted; where competent mediators apply transparent high standards, and are instinctively regarded as professionals regardless of their background; where users see mediation as an opportunity and are more inclined to accept than reject a proposal to engage a mediator; where there are enough competent mediators from all cultures and technical fields that the most suitable mediator can easily be identified.
The creation of IMI is an opportunity for mediation to leave behind its status quo as a local niche activity and become a truly global profession. But can the leading players drive the necessary changes to the current environment to make it happen?
For these reasons, I accepted an invitation to be IMI’s Chair. Because IMI has purely public service goals and is not a service provider in any sense, it does not compete with any mediator, provider, trainer or any other. Its role is to promote excellence and set consistent high standards - and to inspire the use of mediation in all forms worldwide.
IMI’s mission is to convene, enable, encourage, celebrate, explain, simplify, and above all to inspire. To succeed properly, it requires everyone in the field, and those who care about it, to work more proactively together and aim for that common goal.
If experienced mediators become IMI Certified, and as Users leverage the IMI portal to send more disputes to mediation (and way from litigation), significant positive change is within reach.
IMI advanced hugely and became a practical reality in 2009, as this Annual Review explains. For 2010, we can only expect greater awareness and use of IMI as a public resource so that mediation will expand more quickly into a global profession.
After almost two years of planning, consultation and preparation following its incorporation in The Hague, 2009 was the year IMI began to implement its mission. By December, IMI’s Certification Scheme had been successfully introduced and had attracted over 1,000 experienced professional mediators, the Assessment Route to Certification had begun, and IMI’s Wider Mission was being actively implemented.
The IMI Mission
At the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Meeting in New York City in April, IMI crystallised its Mission as assisting in the development of seven keys to the global 
profession. Central to the Mission are the principles that IMI is a public-interest service institution, that it does not compete in the mediation services market in any country, and that its core goal is to derive benefit for all stakeholders in the field, especially Users, by helping to forge mediation into a credible global profession.
Independent Standards Commission
In 2008, IMI convened an Independent Standards Commission (ISC) of over 60 thought leaders and stakeholders in the dispute resolution field - Users, mediators, providers, trainers, educators and judiciary - from Asia, Africa, North and South America, Australasia, Sub-Continent and Europe – and covering commercial, community, family and political dispute resolution expertise. This spread of representation in the ISC will maximize the value of IMI for all stakeholders. All contribute their time pro bono. Prof. Tommy Koh, Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore, a world-recognized inter-governmental dispute resolver, chairs the ISC. There are four Vice-Chairs representing mediators, provider entities and Users - Judith P. Meyer (a US and international mediator), Geoff Sharp (a mediator in New Zealand and internationally), Eileen Carroll (a mediator and deputy CEO of CEDR in the UK), and R. Bruce Whitney (Chief Litigation Counsel (Ret.) of Air Products & Chemicals Inc).
During 2009, the ISC mapped out the Criteria for the Assessment Route to IMI Certification.
Several prominent personalities in the field joined the ISC in 2009:
Peter Adler (USA)
John Brand (South Africa)
Ken Cloke (USA)
Ulrike Gamm (Austria)
Prof. Dwight Golann (USA)
Prof Andrew Lee (Singapore)
Robert Nelson (Canada)
Philip Ray (Germany)
David Richbell (UK)
Hannah F. Tümpel (France)
The Independent Standards Commission has been convened by IMI for several governance purposes:
o Providing advanced thought leadership
o Setting high competency standards for mediators
o Reviewing and approving programmes to qualify mediators for IMI Certification
o Ensuring continuing quality control of approved programmes
o Monitoring the IMI Code of Professional Conduct
o Appointing assessors to review Code of Professional Conduct complaints
o Proposing and approving enhancements to IMI’s Vision and Mission.
IMI Certification via the Experience Qualification Path (EQP)
The six month Experience Qualification Path (EQP or grandfathering opportunity) was formally launched on January 1st, 2009. Experienced mediators who had been assessed by and/or were on the mediation panels of certain listed leading provider and professional institutions around the world were invited to register on the IMI portal, collect user feedback, appoint an independent Reviewer to prepare a Feedback Digest, and build their IMI Certified Profiles.
In March, Step-by-Step Wizards for Mediators and Reviewers were posted to supplement the Quick Guide and FAQs on the IMI web portal. The Wizards took Mediators and Reviewers screen-by-screen through the data inputting process in order to help them compile their IMI Certified Mediator Profiles
By the time the EQP ended on June 30th, there were 1043 registrations on the portal, of which 911 were mediators and 130 were Reviewers and over 100 Profiles were already online. Six months later - by the end of December - 269 mediators had completed their Profiles and were IMI Certified; in total 1097 people had registered on the portal by the end of 2009, of which 943 were mediators and 255 were Reviewers (some Reviewers are also IMI Certified).
IMI Certification via the Assessment Route
IMI worked with the Independent Standards Commission leadership and a Working Group of 20 ISC members to prepare the Assessment Route to IMI Certification that has become the pathway to IMI Certification after the EQP ended. The ISC agreed that the best approach was to empower the world’s leading mediation providers, trainers and professional organizations to qualify mediators for IMI Certification at a stated high standard while embracing cultural and other differences.. The ISC determined that Qualifying Assessment Programmes (QAP) should be based on agreed Criteria that left scope for the organizations to develop and use their own programmes for qualifying mediators for IMI Certification, subject to the ISC’s approval. The ISC therefore drafted and agreed a set of Criteria for Assessment Programmes to Qualify Mediators as IMI Certified (formally called the Assessment Route to IMI Certification).
The Criteria fall under seven categories: Experience, Knowledge and Skills of Mediators; and Transparency, Integrity, Ongoing Monitoring and Commitment to Diversity of the Programme itself.
IMI has been inviting leading trainers, providers, professional and educational institutions in the field to consider the Criteria and apply for the ISC’s authorization for assessment programmes qualifying experienced mediators for IMI Certification. Guidelines for preparing an application for the approval of the ISC have been posted on the portal.
By the end of December, over 20 leading trainers, providers, professional and educational institutions in the field had expressed an intention to submit programmes to qualify mediators for IMI Certification and six were in an advanced draft stage.
In August, ISC member Christopher Honeyman prepared a short annotated bibliography on mediator quality and performance-based assessment as a possible aid in creating and developing qualifying programmes.
On September 24th, the IMI Board agreed that mediation institutions approved by the ISC as Qualifiers for IMI Certification would not be required to pay a fee for being approved or for the privilege of being listed and linked on the IMI web portal to avoid any commercial aspects in creating a system of qualifying institutions.
IMI’s Wider Mission
When IMI was established, setting transparent high standards to assure Users of Mediators’ competency, experience and top quality mediation skills was the first step in accomplishing IMI’s mission. The next steps entail many other initiatives (originating with IMI and others) that are in continuous development and implementation, such as:
• Impartial guidance to Users of mediation. Many Users treat with 
suspicion explanations given by service providers who stand to gain from mediations assigned to them. IMI is a credible source of objective information of the field such as the Decision Tree to help Users to consider mediation and guide them in the process of finding the right mediator for their particular case.
(http://www.imimediation.org/decision-tree.html).
• Informative downloadable material about mediation and assisted negotiation to help and inspire Users, including links to videos of mediations, the latest articles and books, and other media like blogs, podcasts and discussion forums.
• There are important global initiatives that IMI can 
support in terms of finding suitably qualified mediators. For example, IMI joined Mediators Beyond Borders at the UN Climate Change Conference in December to argue for inclusion in the eventual treaty of “mediation” as one of the processes for the peaceful resolution of climate change disputes. IMI is supporting the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Business and Human Rights to build a resource for individuals and communities with no access to traditional dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve through mediation complaints over the activities of corporations.
• An international convening function to help bring together parties whose dispute has become a matter of public record and assist them to consider mediation. Because IMI will not itself deliver mediations or provide any services, IMI will not refer parties to individual mediators or providers, but for that very reason, IMI is in a unique position to propose and explain mediation objectively to disputants, who are often unable to engage in direct dialogue on the subject.
• IMI is a Sponsor of the 2010 ICC Mediation Competition, now in its fifth year, in which students at universities from around the world come to Paris to test their mediation process skills before a distinguished panel of mediation experts.
• IMI is working to extend the IMI portal to include a young mediators’ space – a Generation Y Mediators Forum. Mediation can help resolve conflict among school pupil peers, at universities and other educational institutions and other environments populated by young people.
• Conducting research to establish the value of mediation through metrics. IMI is currently supporting a survey among Users by the Center for International Legal Studies in Salzburg (www.cils.net). This research will be made public.
• An IMI Inter-Cultural Mediation Certification is being developed to enable Users involved in disputes driven by strong cultural differences to identify IMI Certified Mediators with advanced inter-cultural communication and other skills.
• Experience-generation schemes for new mediators are being encouraged based on (a) pro bono work and volunteer mediators for individuals and groups that cannot afford legal action or the cost of a mediator and (b) working as an assistant.
• A Scholarship Programme is being designed to enable aspiring mediators, particularly in developing countries and including those who mediate family and community disputes, to be properly trained and to enable them to gain experience.
Governance
The IMI Board of Directors sets the overall direction of IMI’s public service activities and ensures efficient operation and appropriate financial control. The Board also has an important responsibility to ensure that IMI is funded to meet its goals and properly staffed. All members of the IMI Board serve in a pro bono capacity.
The Board comprises nine people drawn from among leading stakeholder groups:
Chair Michael McIlwrath (Senior Counsel-Litigation, GE Oil & Gas, Florence)
Secretary Shawn Conway (Conway & Partners, Rotterdam)
Treasurer Mark Appel (Senior Vice President, AAA/ICDR)
Wolf von Kumberg Assistant General Counsel, Northrop Grumman Corp
Michael Leathes Former Executive Director, IMI
Loong Seng Onn Executive Director, Singapore Mediation Centre
Minn Naing Oo CEO & Registrar, Singapore International Arbitration Centre
Annette van Riemsdijk Mediator; Director, Mediators Beyond Borders
Frank Rossi Senior Vice President, CFO and Treasurer, AAA/ICDR
During 2009, Michael Leathes joined the Board having passed the role of Executive Director to Irena Vanenkova. Frank Rossi joined the Board, replacing Richard Naimark. The Board has a committee of its members focused on funding development.
IMI Charitable Institution status: IMI has been recognised by the Dutch government as a charitable entity in the Netherlands and has been accorded the status of ANBI (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling). This both exempts IMI from having to pay tax on donations made by sponsors and patrons and also enables tax breaks to be claimed on donors' contributions.
IMI Financials: During 2009, IMI received a generous grant from the GE Foundation to assist IMI to implement its mission and IMI receives a subsidy from The Hague Municipality to help cover office overheads. Individual contributions have also been made by private supporters and hundreds of mediators, both those who are IMI Certified and some who are not. Details of all fund providers (Patrons) can be found on the IMI portal at: http://www.imimediation.org/imi-patrons
In May, IMI moved its Dutch Banking arrangements to Rabobank.
IMI Logo Trademark: IMI owns a Community Trademark and trademarks in the United States and other countries for its distinctive logo. During the year, through a Co-existence Agreement entered into with the European Community, IMI permitted the European Commission to use a trademark similar to IMI’s logo to depict the Internal Market Information system, an environment set up by the European Union to aid administrative co-operation between the Member States of the EU.
Staff Resources
IMI relies heavily on pro bono contributions of time and expertise from the members of its Board, the Independent Standards Commission and other voluntary assistance. Not only is this prudent financial management, it also enables more of the donations made to IMI to be applied directly to the achievement of IMI’s mission. During the year, for example, IMI benefited from a dedication of 2 pro bono hours per day of support from two administrative directors, Bryan Branon and Mandy Sawier who were invaluable in assisting with the roll-out of IMI Certification.
IMI does have two paid staffers:
During the year, Irena Vanenkova was appointed Executive director of IMI, 
replacing Michael Leathes who joined the IMI Board. Irena had been IMI’s Operations director since IMI was created.
In October, Emma Ewart joined IMI as Operations manager. Emma has 
substantial exposure to the mediation field, having previously worked for Resolex in London.
IMI Web Portal
The IMI web portal is central to IMI’s operation and activities as it provides the key medium for sharing information and implementing one of IMI’s core attributes – transparency.
Moreover, IMI is in a constant state of improvement, adaptation and upgrading. Mediators and Users frequently recommend practical enhancements to the IMI portal. For example, model emails by Mediators to parties asking them feedback have been introduced, wording changes have been made to the model Feedback Request Form, and the Peer Reviewer section has been deleted from the Certified Mediator Profile as it was causing confusion with the Reviewer for Feedback Digest purposes. A Quick Guide and FAQs have been added as well as a Macro Perspectives button and an online Library.
In March a counter was placed on the portal homepage showing the number of mediators registered and those whose profiles were complete and in June the portal was refreshed with new material to coincide with the ending of the EQP and to include details of the Transition Period. In August a “How to Find the Right Mediator” Decision Tree was added to accompany the search function on the IMI portal following many useful comments from the ISC and IMI Directors.
There were over 420,000 hits on the IMI portal in 2009.
In January 2010, a major revision of the IMI portal is planned to accommodate more elements of IMI’s wider mission and the developing nature of the IMI initiative.
Symposia and Conferences
An important way to familiarise stakeholders with the mission of IMI is through presentations at conferences. For example:
Irena Vanenkova presented at the annual meeting of the UIA World Forum of Mediation Centers in January and again in October, which prompted much interest and lively debate among European providers. Several have asked for their Panels to qualify under the Experience Qualification Path.
In April members of the ISC, including 3 Vice-Chairs, and Irena Vanenkova presented The 7 Keys to Mediation as a Global Profession at the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference.
In April, Irena presented IMI at the UNCTAD/WTO Symposium in May. ISC Vice Chair kindly presented Michael Leathes’ closing keynote at the inaugural conference of the Asian Mediation Association in Singapore in June.
Michael Leathes presented at a round table meeting of 24 general counsel of global companies in September and an “IMI Day” was held the same month among thought leaders and contributors in the field. Irena explained IMI to the LEADR Annual Meeting in Melbourne in September and to the ADR Institute of Canada conference in Ottawa in October. In November, in furtherance of IMI’s mission to help encourage the formation of mediation bodies in new countries, Irena presented at the UK/Turkey Mediation Symposium in Ankara. Irena joined NMI’s Director to lead a workshop at the Moving Mediation in The Hague in November and presented IMI to user delegates at The Lawyer Magazine ADR Conference in London in December. Irena also explained IMI at the 2-day Mediators at COP15 gathering during the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.
Articles
The written word also plays an important role.
In February, Irena’s explanatory article The Unique Value of Becoming IMI Certified (www.imimediation.org/unique-value-becoming-imi-certified.html) was published by Mediate.com. An article by a group of corporate and other Users called The Perfect Storm (www.imimediation.org/perfect-storm-gathering.html) was published by Mediate.com and on several mediation blogs. In March, IMI Chair Michael McIlwrath published an article: Can Mediation Evolve into a Global Profession on Mediate.com (www.imimediation.org/mediation-can-mediation-evolve-into-a-global-profession.html) and Michael Leathes’ piece IMI Certification and Expanding the Mediation Pie was published in the Fall issue of the NYSBA New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer (www.imimediation.org/expanding-the-mediation-pie.html).
Changing Opinion
Initially, mediator sentiment toward the prospect of competency certification, Feedback Digests and the existence of a new, global, body promoting quality, open information and transparency, was quite sceptical. But opinion has since changed. In 2009, seeking feedback and making it available to prospective Users started to be viewed as important by an increasing number of mediators around the world who realized that without standards and transparency mediation would not grow into a profession in its own right.
The May 2008 European Mediation Directive (Article 4) had urged the development of, and adherence to, voluntary codes of conduct by mediators and organisations providing mediation services, as well as other effective quality control mechanisms concerning the provision of mediation services. In Australia, National Mediation Standards and National Practice Standards were introduced. In October, CPR Institute announced it would introduce a voluntary performance rating system for its Distinguished Panel of Neutrals (www.cpradr.org/tabid/45/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/531/Default.aspx).
The UK’s Civil Mediation Council (CMC) drafted regulations and codes, though it abandoned them (except for workplace mediation) in April. The Academy of Experts published an article in its newsletter in May by CEDR’s CEO Karl Mackie, who is also Vice Chair of the CMC, entitled Rethinking Accreditation – Time for a More Radical Approach. This overview by an acknowledged leader in the field proposed a different approach to the CMC’s drive to grow mediation and its quality, based on (1) ideas rather than bureaucracy and accreditation, (2) a public complaints system managed by the CMC, (3) the issuance of aspirational guidelines by the CMC in the form of Codes of Practice for mediators, providers and trainers, but not mandatory regulations, and (4) registration with the CMC based on the quality of information available publicly about applicants rather than just based on an assurance of their quality.
In 2009, the French Académie de la Médiation, a body convening judiciary, lawyers, disputants and mediators, announced the creation of the Institut Français de Certification des Médiateurs (IFCM), an independent non-profit body designed to certify the competency of experienced mediators based on advanced skills assessments conducted by an independent entity. IFCM is working closely with IMI to coincide its standards.
Mediate.com announced a Certification Scheme for mediators laying down minimum requirements of mediator training and a disclosure of mediator case experience. Other requirements include disclosure of professional liability insurance, a log of at least 12 hours continuing education, identification of professional organization affiliations, adherence to defined standards of mediation practice and an indication of references.
The Mediator Magazine created an online Mediator Directory with searchable resumés of over 70 UK mediators, and enabling parties to file attributed feedback on any listed mediator directly onto the site. The Directory later developed into DisputesLoop, a website enabling Users to post cases and mediators to pitch for appointments.
2010 and Beyond
Moving mediation from a niche alternative form of dispute resolution into a globally- recognised profession in its own right will greatly benefit those who need mediators, mediators themselves, provider organisations, skills trainers and educators, judiciaries and government bodies and NGOs. It can only happen by design and deliberate effort, as it cannot occur by accident.
Fortunately, it is an achievable, User-driven mission. The prime movers are mediators, professional bodies, providers, trainers and educators. Though they compete, they can collaborate in serving the needs of Users.
IMI is a framework through which that collaboration can take place. The individual effort required is not huge. The status quo can be changed.
Experienced mediators must increasingly reflect the User need for more information and make Feedback Digests available to prospective Users – not only via the IMI portal but through their own networks as well; they need to allow more transparency in other ways too – their technical areas of expertise, their professional indemnity insurance arrangements, what Codes of Conduct they are governed by and with what level of scrutiny. They must also see that transparency has substantial upsides – making their exceptional skills better known and understood to more Users. In short, giving mediation a strong professional feel based on high and credible standards.
Professional bodies, providers, trainers and educators have the opportunity now to devise or adapt programmes of their own to meet the Criteria of the Independent Standards Commission, and apply to the ISC for approval to apply those programmes to qualify mediators for IMI Certification (in addition to any other qualifications they may also wish to offer). No fee is payable to IMI in relation to those applications as the ISC members provide their time pro bono.
Such modest effort, on a collective level, can quickly propel mediation into a profession recognised everywhere in this wired world. Users will then come to understand, respect and value mediation on a much more widespread basis, and mediation will emerge out of its niche, “alternative” chrysalis into the primary means for resolving conflicts and forging deals at all levels of society.
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