Sage Mediation Institute for Leadership Education (SMILE) held its inaugural seminar on the topic of “Should Mediators Propose Solutions” with insightful observations and discussions between our distinguished panelists of Justice Chao Hick Tin, Prof Joel Lee, and Ms Kuah Boon Theng SC. The hybrid seminar held on 2 Feb 2024 was attended by 35 in-person participants and 300 online participants from 10 different jurisdictions. Moderated by SMILE CEO, Mr Aloysius Goh, the speakers shared their perspectives on how mediators’ can calibrated interventions can uphold the spirit of the mediation prin ..read more

Part 2 – For Disputants Case Study Jon sat stoically in the mediation room. On his side was his lawyer and a younger associate. Across the table, on the company’s side, there were 4 lawyers next to the HR Director, Maynard, and the Audit Director, Cedric. This was the first time he had seen the lawyers who had been writing many of the nasty threatening letters to him. It was probably only the fourth time he had seen Cedric in person. The mediation commenced with a brief but intense exchange of opening statements. Jon’s lawyer outlined how Jon, the project lead for an IT implementation project ..read more

Part 1 – For Mediators Employment disputes can happen because of many different factors. In most instances, they are successfully and amicably resolved internally. Indeed, good HR managers are typically very good mediators. However, statistics from the Ministry of Manpower [1] indicate that more employees in Singapore are seeking external remedies over workplace disputes. This increase is not likely to be solely due to deteriorations in working conditions or because workers are becoming less resilient. Historical patterns suggest that as a society matures and education levels rise, workers bec ..read more

Sage Mediation was invited to present at the Conference on Developing of Market Driven Mediation Systems hosted by the Zhejiang City University. Sage CEO Aloysius Goh, shared about Singapore’s efforts to be a commercial mediation hub.  Read his full speech here: Good afternoon, distinguished speakers, esteemed guests, My deepest thanks to the conference organisers for inviting me to share some of my perspectives on the role of private international mediation centres in the development of a healthy mediation eco-system. I have been mediating for nearly 20 years. 15 of these were with state ..read more

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In support of Singapore’s drive to be an international business hub, there has been significant investment in recent years to strengthen the nation’s mediation infrastructure. A key thrust of the national mediation blueprint has been to evoke the support of the bar. And, after initial skepticism and reticence, many Singapore-based law firms are now actively broadening their advocacy skills to include effective advocacy in the mediation process. Amongst lawyers here, there is growing recognition that effective advocacy during a mediation is a substantively different competency from arguing a ca ..read more

Mediation has been actively promoted by the government and the courts. In asking disputants to first mediate, the aim is to help them achieve an amicable, efficient, and practical solution. As a result of these policy adjustments, advocates need to rethink their duties and toolkits when approaching dispute resolution. At the recent “Advocacy Best Practices in Hybrid Dispute Resolution Processes” seminar jointly organised by TSMP Law Corporation and Sage Mediation, our panellists Senior Judge Andrew Ang, Mr Thio Shen Yi, SC, and Professor Joel Lee – shared some of their thoughts on what the mod ..read more

46 jurisdictions signed the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (the “Mediation Convention”) at its inception on 7 Aug 2019. In the subsequent 4 years, less than 10 new jurisdictions signed up. One key factor for the slow progress was the COVID-19 pandemic. As governments rightly focused attention on overcoming one of history’s worst global health crisis, activities around international trade-related treaties took a back seat. However, as history has repeatedly shown, major pandemics often precede a dangerous rise in trade and political ten ..read more

On 28 March 2023, Uruguay became the third Latin American country to ratify the Singapore Convention on Mediation (the SCM) after Ecuador and Honduras, and the first to ratify the SCM for the year. Today, Latin American countries form one of the largest blocs among the 11 who have ratified the SCM. It has been nearly three years since the SCM came into force on 12 September 2020. One hopes that ratifications will pick up pace with the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions. As global trade flow recovers to pre-pandemic levels, the SCM plays an important role in establishing a legal framework t ..read more

  Pre-mediation refers to the meetings between the mediator and parties’ counsel before the scheduled mediation. The meetings are done separately over the phone or via video conference. Sometimes, mediators meet counsel in person. Regardless of the mode of meeting, any information disclosed is confidential and without prejudice. What Happens During a Pre-mediation? 1. Clarifying the Issues A key goal of the pre-mediation meeting is for the mediator to better understand the issues in dispute. The mediator would also ask to be updated on any developments on the dispute since case statement ..read more