Let us suppose that you are at a mediation or in some sort of negotiation and the other party has just said something that has gotten you so angry, you are ready to grab your belongings and storm out of the mediation/negotiation.What should you do: give in to your feelings [Read More]
In many mediations (including those I have conducted), there comes a point when the parties are at an impasse: they are stymied in reaching a settlement. The plaintiff wants more, and the defendant believes it has already offered too much. The parties want to settle but do not know how [Read More]
While I do not conduct family law mediations, I read an article in the April 19, 2014 edition of The Economist which I cannot resist mentioning. Entitled "Hunger Strikes", it discusses a study led by Brad Bushman of Ohio State University recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy [Read More]
One of the hardest obstacles to settling a dispute is overcoming a party's sincere belief that she is above average and therefore is right and the other person is wrong. Known as the "Lake Wobegon "effect, Wikipedia explains:The Lake Wobegon effect, a natural human tendency to overestimate one's capabilities, is [Read More]
In 2006, the American Bar Association issued an ethical opinion- ABA Formal Ethics Op. 06-439 entitled A Lawyer's Obligation of Truthfulness When Representing a Client in Negotiation: Application to Caucused Negotiation. At issue was whether an attorney has to be as truthful in a caucused mediation as she is obliged [Read More]
Last week, I posted a blog about the difference between "hearing" and "listening" and how the latter is intimately connected to "active listening".Well, it appears that while hearing and listening helps in everyday life, our senses of seeing and touching are more important! A new study reveals that our brain [Read More]
Once again, another study has been published revealing that our memories are not accurate; they rewrite history incorporating present events.Earlier this month, several different news articles including Northwestern University News and The Times of India reported a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience on February 5, 2014 by lead [Read More]
All disputes are premised on what occurred in the past with the view of resolving them by looking forward. We are often told not to "dwell on the past" but to "look forward" in trying to figure out how to resolve the issues.Thus, all disputes involve our memories. And... as [Read More]
