Recently, I stumbled across an interesting study published online by the ABA Journal (aka American Bar Association Journal). Researchers discovered that when the LSU Tigers unexpectedly lose a football game, the juvenile judges take their anger/frustration at the loss out on the juveniles before them by imposing longer sentences. (“Louisiana [Read More]
In connection with another blog post, I downloaded an internet version of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War translated by the Sonshi Group. In reading through it, I could not help but notice that many of its points relating to “war”, apply with equal force to negotiation, mediation and resolving [Read More]
Once again, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 501, federal privilege law applies to a claim of mediation confidentiality in an action involving both federal and state law claims. In In Re: TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 14-15916 (filed [Read More]
This blog may not have much to do with mediation but has everything to do with conflict resolution. It is a tribute to Nathanial (Nat) Pollack- my father in law – who passed away suddenly (of a heart attack) on August 13, 2016. My father in law had an extraordinary [Read More]
Where we stand on mediation confidentiality, both in California since the Cassel decision and in the Ninth Circuit Originally published in The Advocate, August 2016 Issue. Download the PDF Version of the Article Here (PDF, 250Kb) Phyllis Pollack. Photograph by Jonah Light During the past year, there [Read More]
In the past, I have posted more than one blog about the very fine line between puffing and misrepresentation in the course of negotiations. The audience I had in mind was both the parties and their counsel. ( See aslo, 2014 blog.) A recent appellate decision indicates that my earlier post [Read More]
Recently, I came across a report from the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation entitled “Salary Negotiations”. (HLS_PON_FR_SalaryNeg_V03_031416_wf ) While it focuses on negotiating the best salary possible, some of its points are equally applicable to negotiations in general. In one of the articles, the authors make three important points: “(1) [Read More]
On July 22, 2016, the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) held its meeting to discuss, among other topics, mediation confidentiality. In preparation for the meeting, Chief Deputy Counsel Barbara Gaal prepared memoranda addressing the use of Preliminary In Camera Filtering processes (Memo 2016-38 and First Supplement to Memo 2016-38) and [Read More]
