As one might suspect, mediations are more likely to end in settlement when the participants are in a good mood or are happy. Parties in bad moods make a mediator’s job more difficult; their overall negative outlook on life turns even the best settlement proposals into “bad deals”. So, when [Read More]
It seems that implicit biases are all around us and are inescapable: they appear even in the language we use in our writing. A study (“The sex of researchers affects the language of research papers.” ) discussed in the Science and Technology section of the January 9, 2020 edition of [Read More]
One of the latest blog posts from the Harvard Negotiation Project notes the importance of understanding body language in negotiations. Written by the PON staff and posted on January 30, 2020, “Using Body Language in Negotiation” analyses three situations in which analyzing body language may improve the outcome of your [Read More]
One of the first things a mediator in training is taught is to listen, really listen what the parties are saying. Aka “Active Listening”! Well, it seems that the need and ability to listen is a trait that many in the general population should also learn. A recent article in [Read More]
In 2018, I wrote a blog about mediating in “good faith”. It involved a mediation in which defense counsel admitted that she was there ONLY because the court had ordered the mediation; her client was not inclined to settle or to offer anything in settlement. This posed the question: was [Read More]
In any given mediation, I am often asked whether I think the other party is telling the “truth”, can she be “trusted” ? et cetera. It is a hard question to answer, and I prefer to be positive and optimistic in my response by stating that I have no reason [Read More]
Long ago, I learned that outside events can affect a person’s mood at mediation. One example is traffic- fighting traffic to get to a mediation on time will affect the negotiation process. For this reason, I try to schedule mediations after rush hour so at least the parties are not [Read More]
In a recent blog, I discussed my use of feigned anger to help resolve a case. This prompted me to wonder whether the use of anger in negotiations is helpful or harmful. It seems that it can be both bad and good depending on the degree of anger displayed. In [Read More]
