Fare Thee Well

This is the last issue of Corporate Mediation Journal. The Journal started in 2016. It was one of the objectives of the CMJ to bring the phenomenon of corporate mediation to life as an important ingredient of corporate life. The other objective was to create a platform for mediators who are, or wanted to become, active in the field of corporate mediation. With the loyal support of Claire Mulder and later Anna Doyle and Bas van Zelst, since 2016 many interesting articles have helped to give substance to the phenomenon of corporate mediation. The editors have been happy and grateful to receive very insightful contributions from experts in the field. Interviews with experienced corporate counsels have made it clear that it is important to vest a culture of mediation with a broad offering of very capable mediators who understand the preferences on the part of organisations and entrepreneurs where the performance of mediation is concerned. Expertise in corporate mediation does not come naturally to everyone. Understanding of what boundaries are to be respected and which can be redesigned, how hybrids (have to) work, which liberties (not) to take and how to appreciate the importance of culture of an organisation are but a few topics which deserve careful reflection and exchange of best practices. CMJ has sought to promote and facilitate the deepening of understanding of corporate mediation and its workings. I dare to believe that all contributors will share my experience that writing about corporate mediation and reflecting on it in order to write offers the gratifying yield of each time understanding more and feeling more comfortable about what we are doing. Hopefully the readers of the contributions to the Journal will also have benefitted from a deepening of their understanding of what corporate mediation is and is meant to be.
If mediation within and between organisations is to add the value it has to offer not only to make people within organisations happier, but also to avoid much costs and negative energy for organisations and society by avoiding litigation and arbitration, more trust on the part of executives and managers will have to make that happen. Mediation as one of the main dishes on the menu of professionals who counsel organisations on dispute resolution, breaking down barriers between attorneys, corporate counsels, accountants, arbitrators and other consultants, will benefit their clients. The same applies to executives who deploy mediation skills in the workplace. As addressed in one of the contributions to this last issue of CMJ, corporate mediation still has a long road ahead before becoming an integrated part of management training and education of lawyers and a household practice within and between organisations. CMJ had hoped to become a companion of those who are travelling on that road or aspire to take that road. Unfortunately the number of subscriptions did not support this ambition and understandably Eleven International Publishers – who have loyally supported the Journal as long as at all economically feasible – have had to conclude that the initiative was born too early. Like corporate mediation still is in the early days of its recognisable existence, patience ran out on the hope that a more speedy growth of interest in the phenomenon would help to develop and sustain the Corporate Mediation Journal.

It was not (yet) to be.