Alternative Dispute Resolution
Apr. 15, 2026
How mediators should handle the 'irrational' client
See more on How mediators should handle the 'irrational' clientWhen an 'irrational' client walks into mediation, the instinct is to push back--but experienced mediators know that managing the emotion, not the argument, is what moves the needle.
Every seasoned mediator has faced it: the party who rejects objective risk, clings to improbable narratives, interrupts relentlessly or demands outcomes untethered from legal or economic reality. Lawyers often label such participants "irrational," or in more blunt terms, "these people are crazy." Yet in mediation, that label--however tempting--rarely helps. The mediator's task is not to diagnose, dismiss or defeat perceived irrationality. It is to manage it, reframe i...
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