Mediation is Hard! Each week, The Economist prints an opinion article in its business section entitled “Bartleby”. Its January 19, 2023 piece is entitled “Why pointing fingers is unhelpful”. Its thesis is that while it is easy and quite tempting to point fingers and blame someone, it is not really [Read More]
During a mediation, one or more parties will often bring up the topic of managing expectations- usually in reference to the other party. The discussion will be to the effect that I, as the mediator, should go into the other conference room and have a “candid” conversation with that party [Read More]
In previous posts, I have discussed the benefits of small talk. It is crucial to building trust and rapport at the start of any mediation. It is crucial for the mediator to get the parties to “like” her which is done through small talk. If the parties do not “like” [Read More]
Happy New Year! I hope that everyone’s 2023 is full of joy, happiness, peace and prosperity…. and brings an end to this pandemic! Browsing the internet for inspiration, I came upon an article in Live Science concerning quantum physics entitled “Does reality exist when we’re not looking” by Paul Sutter. [Read More]
Happy New Year! I hope that everyone’s 2023 is full of joy, happiness, peace and prosperity…. and brings an end to this pandemic! Over the last few days, the House of Representatives has been voting for a new Speaker. As I write this, it appears that Rep. Kevin McCarthy will [Read More]
Recently, I watched a webinar presented by the Beverly Hills Bar Association entitled “Unraveling Bias: Understanding Human Decision Making” by Denise Peterson, FCIArb, Attorney, Mediator, and Arbitrator and Adjunct Clinical Professor at South Texas College of Law. After defining “implicit bias” as “…attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, [Read More]
My husband and I were having dinner the other night at our club when our server approached our table and asked us if we “minded” giving her our membership number. Kiddingly, I said I minded but did give her the membership number. However, this prompted a comment from her that [Read More]
As we all know, mediation has become quite popular if not ubiquitous over the last twenty years. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, it was slowly gaining acceptance; in the last twenty years, it has truly become THE alternative to litigation. (No doubt, the pandemic with its lockdowns creating the necessity [Read More]
