Daily Journal: How did you prepare and train to become a neutral?
Wagner: I was appointed a U.S. magistrate judge in 1985 at the age of 31. The concept of mediation was new and no training as we know it today was available. Our court was in crisis, with the heaviest caseload per judge in the nation. We had to have more, and earlier, settlements. I was designated as the settlement judge and was thrown into the mediation pool to sink or swim. I sank. I began to experime... (continued)