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]
Standard I of the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators is entitled "Self-Determination" and admonishes us that "a mediator shall conduct a mediation on the principle of party self-determination." It then defines "self-determination" as" …the act of coming to a voluntary uncoerced decision in which each party makes free and [Read More]
I was watching Grey's Anatomy the other night when an implicit bias crept into the story. One patient was a black woman in need of a kidney transplant. She explained to her new doctor that she did not qualify for a transplant because her algorithm used to determine qualification for [Read More]
In Mediation Ethics: A Practitioner's Guide edited by Omer Shapira (ABA 2021), Bill Eddy contributes chapter 8 entitled "Dealing with Difficult Parties" (pp. 165-185.). Mr. Eddy defines a difficult party as “… someone who demonstrates some or all of the following in the mediation process: exaggerated emotions, adamant directives, attacking [Read More]
