Agreement remains with the parties.
The mediator structures and supports negotiation. The mediator does not impose a settlement simply because agreement would be desirable.
THE PROFESSION / NEUTRAL PRACTICE, ARBITRATION & MEDIATION
Arbitration and mediation are part of Neutral Practice. They are not the whole profession.
ONE PROFESSIONAL FAMILY
For many users, "neutral" is still understood through arbitration and mediation. Both are major Neutral practices, but they sit inside a wider professional field. Arbitration gives a tribunal formal adjudicative authority under a governing framework. Mediation helps parties negotiate an agreement they retain control over. Neutral Evaluation informs another decision-maker. Facilitation supports movement in a group. Neutral Chairing controls process. Expert Determination decides a bounded question under delegated authority. Standing Neutral Practice creates continuity before a dispute. A common profession makes these differences easier to see without pretending the roles are interchangeable.
Decision authority is formally conferred.
The tribunal decides the dispute through the authority of the arbitration agreement, applicable law and procedural framework. TheNeutrals.ORG professional standing is separate from case administration by any arbitral institution.
Independent functions exist before, beside and beyond both.
Evaluation, Standing Neutral, facilitation, chairing, Ombuds, Dispute Boards and determination answer different professional needs.
THE ROLE DECIDES THE AUTHORITY
A professional may practise mediation and arbitration, but the same person does not carry the same authority into both rooms.
Each appointment must make the current role, information framework, conflicts position and procedural authority visible.
THREE DIFFERENT PROFESSIONAL QUESTIONS
Users should choose by function, not familiarity of the procedure name.
Question
Mediation
Arbitration
Wider Neutral Practice
Who decides?
Parties decide whether and how to settle.
Tribunal decides within the arbitration mandate.
Depends on the specific role. Often authority remains elsewhere.
Primary purpose
Negotiated resolution.
Formal adjudication.
Evaluation, facilitation, continuity, chairing, defined determination, channel or another function.
Source of authority
Participant agreement and mediation terms.
Arbitration agreement, applicable law and rules.
Mandate, contract, institutional framework or other valid source specific to the role.
Typical output
Settlement if parties agree, or no settlement.
Award or other tribunal decision.
Evaluation, determination, process record, recommendation, facilitated roadmap, no formal output or another role-specific product.
Confidentiality
Depends on mediation agreement and applicable framework.
Depends on rules, law and agreement. Not universally identical.
Depends entirely on the role and governing framework.
Can one professional do several?
Yes, but role changes require conflicts and information review.
Yes across separate matters. Sequential roles in the same matter may raise serious issues.
Yes, if professional competence, mandate and independence support the function.
WHY A COMMON PROFESSION HELPS
The user should not need a law-school understanding of procedure to find the right independent function.
A common professional framework can begin with the real need: agreement, decision, independent view, process, continuity or informal channel. The profession then routes that need into the correct practice discipline and only after that into professional discovery. This avoids using mediation or arbitration simply because those are the labels the user already knows.
ROLE SEPARATION IN ONE PROFESSIONAL LIFE
A professional may hold several capabilities. Every appointment still has to name which one is active.
Settlement process
Private communications and negotiation dynamics may create information that cannot safely travel into a later adjudicative role.
Formal adjudication
Procedural fairness, decision authority and the legal framework require a different professional posture.
Independent view
The evaluator can be more direct in professional assessment while final authority remains elsewhere.
Continuity before dispute
Familiarity with a relationship can improve later usefulness while creating continuing conflict and role-transition questions.
Process authority
The Chair may control meeting process without acquiring substantive board or committee decision power.
Defined delegated decision
Authority is limited to the bounded question and effect created by the governing arrangement.
PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
One professional may practise several Neutral roles. One appointment should never leave the active role ambiguous.
Professional versatility is valuable only when the role, information and authority are re-set each time the professional function changes.
THE INSTITUTIONAL BOUNDARY
TheNeutrals.ORG is the professional institution. Case administration belongs to the arbitral or other administering institution selected for the matter.
PROFESSIONAL STANDING
TheNeutrals.ORG can define standards, certify standing and maintain professional records.
CASE ADMINISTRATION
An arbitral institution such as UNIONE may separately administer arbitrations where chosen.
MEDIATION PROCESS
Administration depends on the process the parties select.
OTHER NEUTRAL ROLES
Appointment and administration depend on the mandate or governing system.
PROFESSIONAL DISCOVERY
Current public professional records
Only currently published professional records are shown.
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / New York, United States
Michael Goldstein
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationBanking and FinanceHealthcare Disputes Practice Group
Published record: Mr. Goldstein is admitted to practice in New York, several federal district courts, and United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits. He also…
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Lund, Sweden
Mikael Wahlgren
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationOilGas and EnergyReal Estate and Property Disputes
Published record: Mikael Wahlgren is the owner and founder of the law consultancy firm Linton and Wahlgren AB. He has more than 25 years extensive experience and knowledge of, amongst others, managing…
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Michigan City, United States
Katherine Simpson
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationOilGas and Energy
Published record: Now, Dr. Katherine Simpson, FCIArb., is an arbitrator and mediator. She has been involved in over 30 international arbitrations chaired by Profs. Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel, William W. (Rusty) Park, and Klaus…
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Loudon, United States
Berin Simge Hikmet
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationBanking and FinanceHealthcare Disputes Practice GroupInformation
Published record: Berin was called to the bar of England and Wales in the year 2000. After her pupillage at 2 Paper Buildings, Chambers of Sir Desmond de Silva QC she practiced…
EXPLORE THE PRACTICE DISCIPLINES
Move from familiar procedures into the wider Neutral profession.
MEDIATION
The parties own the settlement decision.
ARBITRATION
Formal decision authority comes from the governing arbitration framework.
WIDER PROFESSION
Independent professional functions exist before, beside and beyond formal dispute resolution.
NEUTRAL PRACTICE, ARBITRATION & MEDIATION