Maybe I’ve been thinking about evolution more than is normal for the average lawyer. I have a 5-year-old son who is fascinated by every species of dinosaur. As a result, I read to my son nearly every night about the events and the evolving cast of creatures that populated the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Since the Triassic period began 240 million years ago, this provides a real sense of perspective.

I wonder how Charles Darwin would use his theory of evolution to explain the many strange and wonderful variations of mediation that have flowered in the past decade. And although there seems to be increasing tolerance and even appreciation for different approaches to mediation - evaluative, facilitative, transformative, broad, narrow - I wonder how Darwin would react to the strong opinions expressed by many mediators, regulators and commentators about what mediation is and is not.