It Helps to Listen!A few weeks ago, a colleague Esther C. Bleuel posted an article about hearing and listening, noting that the only thing these two concepts have in common is our two ears. As we know, "hearing" is not the same as "listening." To quote Ms. Bleuel, "...the purpose [Read More]
In 2000, I decided to move away from practicing law because I got tired of fighting with opposing counsel and being labeled and treated as the "bad guy" simply because I was representing an allegedly "bad guy". It seemed that civility and professionalism among lawyers no longer existed, and I [Read More]
Not every Plaintiff wants to settle her lawsuit. Some, who are wealthy and have time on their hands, enjoy the "game" for the sake of the game. Some plaintiffs are risk takers who enjoy the "ride."I learned this once again in a recent mediation, forcing myself to remember that as [Read More]
Most folks think that the purpose of mediation is to settle cases. However, in the last few weeks, I have conducted some actual mediations that were "successful" yet did not settle. Although the parties came to mediation with the goal of settling, they walked out accomplishing other purposes.There are many [Read More]
A few weeks ago, I conducted a "lemon law" mediation. Over the past few months, most of these have been conducted by using separate sessions only; counsel have not wanted to participate in joint sessions. However, this time, plaintiff's counsel wanted to hold a joint session. Defense counsel who had [Read More]
I have always believed that a lot of the lawsuits result from a lack of communication or miscommunication. I have also believed that using joint sessions in mediation can be most helpful to clear up a misunderstanding or a lack of understanding. Despite my beliefs, I still mediate a lot [Read More]
It is often said that to resolve disputes, the respective needs and interests of each party must be met. Indeed, this is the thesis of Getting to Yes by Fisher and Ury, the seminal book on negotiation strategy and resolving conflicts. Although the parties did not set out to do [Read More]
Recently, I posted a blog on the timing of mediation, noting that sometimes a mediation occurs early in the life of a case and before all of the preparatory work has been done resulting in the parties realizing that more discovery is required to reach a compromise. I noted that [Read More]
