To the AMA

Global trends in mediation keep it up with modern creeds

It out trumps litigation, responds to social needs

Goals, objectives, values drive the mediation quest

Med-arb, arb-med, arb-med-arb, it’s a resolution fest

East and west, cross-cultural norms, acronyms fly fast,

CCPIT, DDR and ODR at last.

Where winds of change are blowing, when harmony’s at bay

Mediators find solace within the AMA

When mediators are jaded and scholars start to stray

We gain fine inspiration in the halls of AMA

Litigation ‘comes creative, metamorphises in its way

Competes through adaptation, case management holds sway

But resilience is the hallmark of mediation’s game

It dominates the global stage, not easy to contain

Cross-cultural mediation assumes dimensions of its own

Each jurisdiction innovates - it’s never just a clone

UNCITRAL pushes global med to take on NYC

CIETAC creates services for disputes oversea

Insights from the Philippines, Fiji and HK

Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and UK,

HKMAA, SMC, the acronyms abound

Cross-pollination is our creed, but there is much common ground

In all of this the lead comes wise from far Australia

But Wang Fang has better views - must stop before I’ve gone too far.

--Laurence Boulle, To the AMA presented at the Fourth Asian Mediation Association Conference, Beijing, 20-21 October 2016