Here’s a confession: I’m in a four-party mediation. It begins at 9:30 a.m. in a joint 30-minute session. The mediator then spends 30 minutes with each party. It’s now noon — we’re taking lunch orders — and the mediation process has only just begun! At mid-afternoon, positions are far apart, and pressure mounts to make lots of progress in a hurry.

It’s January 2011. I’m sitting in a conference room at the Federal Courthouse in Omaha (the building is new and beautiful; you should visit it sometime). It’s a “brown-bag luncheon” for the local bankruptcy bench and bar. We’re on the last agenda item (open forum), and the judge asks for input. Having recently completed a couple of state court mediations, I raise my hand and say, “What about using mediations in bankruptcy?” Next thing that happens: I’m chair of the Nebraska Bankruptcy Court Mediation Committee.