Hon. Daniel J. Buckley (Ret.)

What drives you most in the work -- is there a particular kind of moment that keeps you engaged?

What gives me the greatest drive is the constant need to think outside the box. I am a firm believer that there is no cookiecutter approach to mediation. It may be the tenth wage and hour class action you have seen in recent weeks, or another personal injury matter -- but every case, based on the lawyers, the parties, the facts, the specific law involved, presents a different approach. The greatest satisfaction comes when I have identified something unique to a particular case -- a way to move both sides toward resolution that is specific to this case and these parties. And the real art of it is working in such a way that when that resolution comes, both sides feel it was their idea. That is when the work is most alive for me. When a different approach, crafted for this situation and no other, succeeds.

If you could say one thing directly to a sitting judge who is reading this -- someone quietly wondering if this might be the right move -- what would you want them to know?

I would not oversell it. I don't think anything can fully match the professional satisfaction of being a judge. That identity, that role -- it is something you carry for a reason.

But I would reassure anyone considering the move that there is a real and meaningful level of satisfaction in being a mediator. In allowing the litigants to find closure, finality, certainty. In being the person in the room who makes that possible. It is not a consolation for leaving the bench. It is something positive in its own right. If I am being completely honest -- I have been surprised by how good it has been. More surprised than I expected to be.

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