Dec. 3, 2025
Mediation after ABA Opinion 518: What are a lawyer's responsibilities?
ABA Opinion 518 restricts how mediators can use the mediator's proposal but makes lawyers responsible for enforcing the boundaries.
Jeff Kichaven
Mediator
Jeff Kichaven Commercial Mediation
Insurance coverage, trade secrets, trademark, copyright, patent, liability, legal malpractice, commercial disputes
515 S Flower St, Fl 18
Los Angeles , CA 90071-2221
Phone: (888) 425-2520
Email: jk@jeffkichaven.com
Harvard University Law School
The American Bar Association would not publish a major ethics opinion on mediation unless something in our field had drifted badly off course.
Well, something has.
And something had to be done about it. So we should welcome ABA Formal Opinion 518 (Oct. 25, 2025).
The problem
For years, the mediation field has been flooded -- and I use that word deliberatel...
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