Drive-By Mediation & Other Opportunistic Distortions of Process

When is a mediation no longer really mediation?

Drawing from her 2025 Arizona Law Review article, "Drive-By Mediation and Other Opportunistic Distortions of Process," Professor Nancy Welsh will examine how the legal benefits and protections afforded to mediation can create incentives to label proceedings as “mediation” even when they bear little resemblance to meaningful facilitated negotiation. She will discuss the emergence of “drive-by mediation,” in which parties who have already negotiated an agreement participate in a brief mediation primarily to obtain the legal protections associated with a mediated settlement agreement. She will also consider other distortions, including “binding mediation” and “rogue mediation,” and invite mediators to consider what these practices mean for mediator ethics, process integrity, party self-determination, and the future of the profession.

1 hour of mediator continuing education,

including 0.50 hour of ethics pending for attendees

1 hour of MCLE, including 0.50 hour

of ethics pending by the State Bar of Texas 

Registration is free for AMA Members/$15 for non-members. Attorneys who wish to receive Texas MCLE credit are asked to pay a $5 fee to offset the cost of MCLE sponsorship.

Become a member of AMA today for as little as $35!