Some people would call Deborah Mendez-Bowen soft. The attorney says she's never been one for showdowns and steeped the first phase of her legal career in the non-confrontational field of conveyancing. She's spent a decade teaching classes at Hugh Wooding Law School rather than tussling for clients in courtrooms. And in her spare time she likes to do needle point.
The Alternative Dispute Resolution consultant and lecturer acknowledges that many would characterise her area of expertise in the same way.
"People see it as a soft skill," she said. "They think it's something they don't have time with." She doesn't seem offended. Perhaps that's because having been responsible for setting up the first court-connected mediation programme in the English-speaking Caribbean, Mendez-Bowen understands that the conflict-resolution of the future will assume a less adversarial approach.
"We have to begin by understanding that conflict is inevitable but it's not necessarily something to slug out in court," she explained. The field of dispute resolution deals with a battery of skills-negotiation, facilitation, arbitration, conflict-resolution and mediation-all geared toward helping people resolve their issues.
Mendez-Bowen saw the need to focus on the field while she was a Law School lecturer. The wife and mother of three earned a Fulbright scholarship and went on sabbatical leave to pursue her Master of Arts in dispute resolution from the University of Massachusetts. Mendez-Bowen immersed herself in the two-year programme, which included workshops in family and divorce mediation, negotiation, training and teaching methods. She also gained practical experience, working as a mediator in one district and one family court in Boston. She had done her Master's thesis on setting up a mediation system for the OECS. Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Sir Dennis Byron, threw his weight behind the programme and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) agreed to fund the thesis. Mendez-Bowen was taken on as a consultant and lead trainer for the court's mediators.
"People are a bit apprehensive as to how it would work but the response has been very good. Using the St Lucian experience for the past two years, the settlement rate of matters that had gone to mediation was between 60 and 70 per cent," the consultant said. The demand for her skill has been almost overwhelming. At home, Mendez-Bowen has served as the chairman of the committee responsible for drafting the Mediation Act, which was passed last year. She has also co-designed the Family and Divorce Mediation Skills Workshop, training mediators for the Family Court. Explaining that mediators must be impartial and good listeners, Mendez-Bowen stressed that the most important skill is that of discernment.
She explained: "People come to conflicts with their baggage. And what they demand may not necessarily be what the need. You see it in divorce cases all the time. A mother may say she doesn't want the father to see the children. But her real concern is that she would like him to communicate more effectively with her when they are in his care, for example." The consultant said that the power of mediation is that for the first time people feel heard and are allowed to express hurt. They get to the core of their issues.
"In a courtroom your conflict is framed in legal language and there is a disconnect between the client and the legal process," Mendez-Bowen said. "This is an opportunity to satisfy all your needs and build back relationships. You can't get that in litigation. The courts can't give you an apology."
That said, Mendez-Bowen is quick to reiterate that dispute resolution isn't specific to legal conflicts. She has founded an Institute for Dispute Resolution which offers its services to individuals and organisations. The techniques involved in dispute resolution can be applied anywhere, and Mendez-Bowen is especially excited to put them to work in the field of labour relations. "That is where I would like to see dispute resolution take off," she raved.
The consultant has designed and facilitated workshops on negotiation, conflict resolution and mediation skills for a number of corporate clients in the region, South Africa and the United States. She is currently a trainer for a workplace conflict resolution programme for Coca-Cola International. She explained that the programme establishes a dispute resolution system and trains every member of the company (in this case, 77,000) on how to raise, respond to and resolve conflicts.
"Conflict can be positive and productive. But the organisation has to send that message and there must be mechanisms in place to deal with issues when they arise." She explained that an ADR system equips parties with the communication skills to resolve issues themselves. Mendez-Bowen lamented that most local employers don't view the skill as one for employees at all levels.
"Many organisations in Trinidad are not aware of or committed to the philosophy that conflict is natural and that it's okay to talk about problems. Companies are willing to train the managers but they don't see it as embracing the entire organisation. So what you have is that the manager may learn the skills in dealing with conflict but without systems in place the staff doesn't trust the initiative and it won't benefit the organisation. Organisations need to instill comprehensive dispute resolution systems that will benefit all employees and the organisation."
And it's not just organisations that can benefit. Through the Ministry of Social Development, members of various communities have been doing training in relationship-enhancing skills such as conflict resolution and anger management.
"When I teach people they tell me right away that they apply it to their families," she said. "They're really happy about the results."
So when does mediation not work?
Mendez-Bowen stated it quite simply: "When people are more comfortable fighting."
