Originally published in The Daily Journal.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard a settlement judge or a mediator say, "I settled that case." Unless I've missed something, litigants enter settlement contracts, not judges or mediators.

But judges and mediators are not the only players in the mediation drama who are :pronoun challenged." In the first caucus of a mediation I recently hosted, a lawyer's first words were, "I hope you're up to the task you face today. You're going to have a really hard time settling this case. You'll be lucky to get much movement out of anyone. I don't envy your job."