Happy July 4th! I hope each of you and your families enjoy the holiday! As I am in the business of conflict resolution or resolving disputes, I got to thinking about the back story behind July 4th. After all, it was a dispute that got settled by guns and warfare [Read More]
In his recently published book, Getting To Yes with Yourself (HarperCollins, 2015), William Ury explains a simple idea that may be difficult to implement; to get to Yes with others, we must first get to Yes with ourselves. Simply put; we are our own worst enemy and our own biggest obstacle [Read More]
Are you in awe? Probably not… but, according to a recent article in the Sunday New York Times (“Why Do We Experience Awe? “By Paul Piff and Dacher Keltner-May 24, 2015), we should be. According to research to be published in the June issue of the Journal of Personality and [Read More]
I have mediated over 1400 matters. Thus, I have seen parties approach negotiation in a myriad of ways; some appear to be “winging it” while others appear to have some sort of strategy in mind. The common thread appears to be “self-interest” or how can each party get the best deal [Read More]
A colleague (Esther Bleuel) recently shared a quote by Benjamin Franklin: “Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail.” Recently, the Los Angeles Daily Journal published an article by Larry Mills entitled, How Counsel can make or break a settlement. (April 3, 2015- page 2 of Verdicts and Settlements). In essence, [Read More]
Well- we missed it! March 20 was International Day of Happiness. Evidently, it was created by a United Nations Resolution passed at its 118th plenary meeting on June 28, 2012, declaring March 20th of each year to be the holiday. As one might guess, the resolution was promoted by the [Read More]
Once again, an appellate court in California has confirmed the “…near categorical prohibition against judicially crafted exceptions to mediation confidentiality.” In Amis v Greenberg Traurig, LLP et al, (Issued March 18, 2015, Case No. BC 426815) (Id. at 8.), the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held that mediation [Read More]
Recently, I participated on a panel on Mediation Confidentiality sponsored by the Southern California Mediation Association. As many of you are aware, the California Supreme Court has very strictly interpreted the mediation statutes in California Evidence Code Sections 1115-1128 to the point of repeatedly holding that there are no exceptions [Read More]
