One of the hardest things about settling a lawsuit is for the parties to let go. They have spent all this time and energy (mental and emotional) as well as money on it over a period of months (if not years) and now, in the face of an offer to [Read More]
As of last fall 2017, I am a Lecturer in Law at the University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law teaching ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Ethics. I teach mediation ethics while my co-teacher covers arbitration ethics. With this perspective in mind, the recently filed lawsuit by Stormy Daniels [Read More]
Recently I came upon an older article written by Tammy Lenski entitled, “Face to Face negotiation better than e-mail.” (“Lenski”) While the article was originally published in December 2003, its points are probably truer today than fifteen years ago. The last decade and a half has seen an explosion in [Read More]
Within the last week, I have read two different articles about the “truth”. The first, a blog posted on Kluwer Mediation Blog on February 8, 2018 entitled, “The Map is not the territory” by Charlie Woods highlights the notion that each of us has a different perception when looking at [Read More]
An article last month in the New York Times got me thinking that perhaps in my mediations, I should warn people that their memories and perceptions may be unreliable, especially where the situation involves parties of different ethnicities. In To Curb Bad Verdicts, Court Adds Lesson on Racial Bias for [Read More]
Have you ever sat back with your eyes closed and listened to music or someone speaking? Why did you do it? Probably, to appreciate more fully and deeply what you were hearing. By shutting down one of our senses, we allow ourselves to hone in more deeply to the music [Read More]
The semester has just started at USC Gould School of Law where I am teaching ADR Ethics. One of our recent classes focused on cognitive biases. After I pointed out that we all have them, and it is unavoidable, a student asked “What about judges?” Yes- they have them too, [Read More]
While I have known that silence can be a powerful tool in my mediation tool box, I never really thought about until I read a recent article posted on the BBC news website called “The subtle power of uncomfortable silences ” by Lennox Morrison (July 18,2017). (“Article”) The article examines [Read More]
