This semester, I will be co-teaching a course in negotiation. To prepare, I read the three assigned textbooks on the subject over the holidays. What struck me but not as a surprise, is that each author emphasized the importance of preparing for the mediation. None of them suggests simply walking [Read More]
The last mediation I conducted in 2021 did not result in a resolution. There were a number of reasons why which I could not quite put my finger on. But over the holidays I read some books on negotiation which helped to crystallize my thinking. One of the books, Bargaining [Read More]
In December 2020. I posted the following blog. Little did we all know then, that even though another 525,600 minutes have elapsed, we are still in a pandemic facing a new variant- Omicron. The Broadway musical, "Rent" has a song entitled "Seasons of Love" which starts off by asking: Five [Read More]
Recently, I conducted a mediation which from the moment I introduced myself, I knew it would not settle. Certain signs gave it away. The first sign was that the plaintiff was “too busy” to attend. And mind you- this is a mediation via zoom (or even by telephone!) According to [Read More]
The Southern California Mediation Association (SCMA) recently held its annual conference (virtually). The closing plenary remarks were delivered by Randy Lowry- the first president and a founding member of SCMA. The theme of the conference was ‘the magic of mediation” or how a few hours of mediation can work magic [Read More]
Over the last several months, Congress has been struggling to reach a consensus on infra-structure legislation with a concurrent reconciliation bill. Because the Senate is evenly divided, a delicate balance of power exists to the point that two senators are having a great deal of say over what goes into [Read More]
At a February 12, 2002, news briefing, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld explained the limitations of intelligence reports: "There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there are some things we [Read More]
I will never understand why people go to mediation (and pay lots of money to a mediator) when they are not prepared to settle. I had another one of those mediations recently that went nowhere even before it started. I knew something was amiss when I did not receive any [Read More]
