Categories of Litigants
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Recently I needed to research how to better mediate with those who are unusually persistent in the pursuit of a grievance – often labelled querulants or persistent litigants.
In my travels, I came across Emeritus Professor Paul Mullen of Psychiatry Monash Health, who usefully categorises claimants into three groups;
THE NORMAL
Aggrieved
Seeking legitimate redress
Able to negotiate and accept reasonable arbitration
THE DIFFICULT
Aggrieved
Sense of being victimised
Over-optimistic expectations of compensation
Difficult to negotiate with and rejecting all but their estimation of a just settlement
Though persistent, demanding and occasionally threatening will ultimately settle albeit still complaining of injustice
THE QUERULOUS
Excessively preoccupied with supposed transgression (on a quest)
The obsessive pedantic concern with detail
Focus more on the “principle” and on injustice than on the nature of the injury
Seek vindication and retribution, not just compensation
Inflexible at one level, constantly adding to and reframing grievances at another level
Grievance continues to grow, recruiting those who attempt to arbitrate to the objects of resentment and even litigation
Disproportionate anger
Themes of being victimised, ignored, lied to, fobbed off and humiliated
#mediation
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