Californians have a reputation for being litigious; for making mountains out of mole hills. Judge Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals minces no words on this point. A very small “tiff” got very much out of hand apparently because neither party had the courage (or common sense?) to [Read More]
Previously published in the September 2015 issue of "Advocate" Magazine, Pages 44-55 The September 2015 issue of Advocate (Journal of Consumer Attorneys Associations for Southern California) focuses on ADR-Choice is Good. I am privileged to contribute an article on mediation confidentiality and re-print it here. It may be found [Read More]
Recently, I posted a blog about the August 2015 meeting of the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) in which as part of its study on the “Relationship between Mediation Confidentiality and Attorney Malpractice and Other Misconduct " (Study K-402), the Commission requested that Staff Counsel draft legislation to include exceptions to [Read More]
We have all heard that how we appear matters: that people judge us by our appearance without even realizing it. People will look at our faces and based on what they perceive unconsciously, will decide whether we are trustworthy. A recent study confirms this link between appearance and trustworthiness. In [Read More]
The August 2015 edition of the California Lawyer contains an article entitled Feelings in the Fray for which I was interviewed. In it, the author Susan Kostel discusses how emotions very much play a critical rule in negotiations and in resolving disputes. Understanding a bit of neuroscience goes a long way to helping parties resolve [Read More]
As a mediator, I have learned to choose my words carefully. The way I phrase something will make all the difference in the world between gaining someone’s trust and angering them. The importance of wording is brought home by Kenneth Cloke in his book, The Dance of Opposites (Goodmedia Press, 2013). [Read More]
Tucked inside the Sunday Business section of the New York Times (June 28, 2015), I discovered an article entitled “The Mouth Is Mightier Than The Pen” written by Matt Richtel about a study revealing that an old fashioned telephone call is far better than an e mail (much less texting) [Read More]
I have mixed emotions. Why? Recently, I have conducted multiple mediations simultaneously in matters involving the same plaintiff’s counsel and defendant’s counsel. These are lemon law cases and so frequently the same plaintiff’s counsel will have multiple cases with the same defense counsel. The mediations are thus scheduled for a [Read More]
