To read the Mediator’s ‘Camel Parable’, Google ‘The Eighteenth Camel.’

By acknowledging the ‘interdependence dynamic’, i.e. that siblings in dispute actually need each other in order to maximise gains by avoiding/minimising losses (Pareto Principle or 80/20 Rule), i.e. because collaboration v. competition can result in the creation of synergy e.g. 2+2 = 6, then what parties in dispute and their mediation advocates need to do in preparing for mediation, is to search for the 18th camel. The same principle applies to the mediation of commercial disputes.

The 18th Camel is a win/win/win outcome, i.e something that is bigger than money.

In a trust/estate dispute there is always an 18th camel, as I discuss in Part 1 of an article I am currently writing and will offer to Trusts & Trustees (Oxford University Press) for publication about ‘Mediation Advocacy in Trust and Estate Disputes.’

All you have to do to find the 18th camel is adopt a constructive mind-set i.e. approach to the settlement of an estate dispute in mediation. That is because searching for the 18th camel can transform competitors into problem-solving partners.

In particular, to find the 18th camel where an estate includes both qualifying agricultural property and heritage assets, see my article published in Taxation in 2023, ‘Downton revisited – Mediating estate disputes involving art and heritage property.’ There is a link on the Publications page at www.carlislam.co.uk.