Can You Recognize When You’re Being “Reality Tested”?
NOTE: The following text will appear as a chapter in a mediator skills volume to be published soon by the International Bar Association, edited by mediator Patricia Barclay of Bonaccord Ecosse Limited, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Reality testing is the technique of inviting a party to adjust his perceptions of the claim. A party may overestimate the likelihood of success on the merits, or the other side’s ability or willingness to pay. He may have an unrealistic assessment of his alternatives to settlement. The transaction costs of continuing the dispute in court may not have been accurately addressed. He may not have confronted business, competitive, or psychological obstacles to a successfully negotiated conclusion of the dispute. The purpose of reality testing is to help to eliminate those obstacles. Read more »

