I have had several mediations lately in which the approach of the parties clashed. The clash can be labelled as the one-shot player vs the repeat player.(See: Is That All There Is? The Problem in Court-Oriented Mediation by Leonard L. Riskin and Nancy Walsh, 15 George Mason Law Review ___ [Read More]
Let us suppose a hypothetical: you are given notice of the date and time of a court ordered mediation but choose not to attend. Those who do attend reach an agreement and sign a settlement agreement. Is that agreement binding on you although you did not attend the mediation? While [Read More]
Teaching mediation ethics has its good points and bad points. The good is that I have been required to learn the subject matter in depth; the bad is that oftentimes in an actual mediation I am cognizant (or more so) of ethical issues which may escape the (full?) attention of [Read More]
Recently, I attended another wonderful Zoom presentation sponsored by Will Work For Food (https://www.willworkforfood.news/) entitled “Apology, Forgiveness and Reconciliation” by Professor Emeritus Peter Robinson who taught for many years at the Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University.(He was also a managing director of the Straus program for many [Read More]
oHappy New Year! I hope that everyone has remained healthy and safe!!!! As usual, the California Legislature kept busy in 2020 passing many laws although not as many as in past years. It enacted only 372 laws and many of them dealt with various forms of needed relief stemming from [Read More]
The Broadway musical, "Rent" has a song entitled "Seasons of Love" which starts off by asking: Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes. Five hundred twenty five thousand moments so dear. five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure, Measure a year? In daylights? In [Read More]
Recently, I conducted two mediations that revealed the importance of flexibility, creativity and being prepared. The first one was an alleged wrongful termination case in which the employer was disputing that the alleged employee was even terminated. According to the alleged employer, the alleged employee quit while the employee claimed [Read More]
During my first week of class teaching mediation ethics, I usually give a version of the Kilmann Diagnostic Test because I believe that one’s personality type impacts one’s mediating style. Thus, a blog post dated November 12, 2020 on the Harvard Pons website caught my attention. Entitled “How Much Does [Read More]
