Recently, in small claims court, my co-mediator and I mediated a case that on paper looked almost absurd: a claim for forty dollars. Cases involving that little money rarely make it to mediation, much less court. But as soon as the plaintiff walked in, we understood that this wasn’t about the money at all. It was about being heard. He spoke English haltingly, with a thick accent. both of us struggled to understand him, and we could see him struggle to be understood. He had fi
