As I mentioned in my last blog post, I started teaching ADR Ethics at USC Gould School of Law last week. During our discussion of ethics, I asked whether it would be proper to hide information. I posed the following hypothetical: At mediation, an Insurance company settled a dog [Read More]
In 2018, the Board of Trustees of the State Bar of California received a Legal Market Landscape Report (commissioned by the Bar) (“Report”) to study the ever changing market for legal services. What the study found is that while the wealthy can afford legal services, the less well advantaged cannot. [Read More]
There is an adage that a person who is her own lawyer, has a fool for a client, meaning that representing yourself is a foolish. Why? You lose perspective, objectivity and perhaps even credibility. Based on a recent event, it seems that this adage applies to mediators as well: one [Read More]
Once again, Thanksgiving is upon us. Last year- 2017- I posted the blog below which I believe is as relevant today as it was last year. So, I would like to share it again. And.... again I want to thank each of you for such a great year. I deeply [Read More]
The other weekend, my husband and I were visiting some friends (husband and wife) whom we had not seen in a while. As we were leaving, the wife and I were avidly talking with each other, seemingly interrupting each other, or at least, not letting the other finish a sentence. [Read More]
When I took my very first mediation training course in 2000, the instructor emphasized the importance of introducing ourselves to each and every one in the room and shaking their hands when we-the mediator- walked into the room for the first time. I did not think much about it, and [Read More]
My husband’s stay in the hospital has taught me a very basic lesson: knowing how to resolve disputes is a necessary tool in every aspect of life, especially in stressful situations such as hospital stays. This may get back to the notion discussed in an earlier blog, that some medical [Read More]
Someone once said to me that while to a butcher a pair of lamb chops is just another set of lamb chops, to a person who has not eaten in a long while, it will be the best meal ever. In sum, it is all a matter of perspective. I point [Read More]
