This is my final “Drawing from the Past” post, and I chose this drawing to illustrate something I believe holds a special place in dispute resolution:

Experience.

The other day, I had a conversation with a seasoned 😉 colleague whose firm primarily advises clients in the venture capital and private equity industries.

He said:

“𝘐𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘐 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵.

𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.”

I think he has a point.

Not because experience guarantees success. It doesn’t.

But because every hearing, every witness examination, every document production, every procedural crisis, every settlement discussion, and every unexpected turn teaches you something you simply cannot learn from a textbook.

The challenge, however, is not merely to accumulate experience. It is to reflect on it. To understand what worked, what didn’t, and why.

To my younger colleagues entering the field: despair not!

Be patient and collect your experiences one by one. They will come. The important part is to acknowledge them, analyse them, and carry them forward into the next case.

At the same time, experience should never become rigidity. Our profession needs curiosity just as much as experience. The younger generation constantly challenges established thinking, embraces innovation, and reminds us that there is rarely only one good way to solve a problem.

Because even after hundreds of cases…

…Santa may still crash his sleigh on the way down the mountain.

#DrawingFromThePast#Experience #ConflictResolution #Arbitration #Mediation#Learning

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴:𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳’𝘴 #𝟤𝟢𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘐𝘯𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯—𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳—𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.