"Good Faith"Quite often, one party accuses the other party of not negotiating in "good faith". I never gave much thought to the precise meaning of this term until I attended an entertainment law seminar in which one of the speakers mentioned that most entertainment contracts contain a clause requiring the parties to [Read More]
As a mediator specializing in "lemon law" cases, I work with many of the same plaintiffs' and defense counsel over and over again. They also work with each other over and over again, as well. These two points can be good... and can be bad as I quickly found out [Read More]
Recently, I received an e mail alerting me to an order (Order_Mot for Remit_MSJ re New Trial.pdf )Â of a federal court providing that mediation confidentiality would not apply to prevent an insurance company from using statements made during mediation to defend itself against claims of insurance bad faith.In Craig Milhouse [Read More]
In 2000, when I took my first mediation training class, my teacher discussed the five stages of loss and grief first proposed by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying. The particular training course I was attending focused on divorce mediations and so the stages were relevant [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]
It Helps to Listen!A few weeks ago, a colleague Esther C. Bleuel posted an article about hearing and listening, noting that the only thing these two concepts have in common is our two ears. As we know, "hearing" is not the same as "listening." To quote Ms. Bleuel, "...the purpose [Read More]
Not every Plaintiff wants to settle her lawsuit. Some, who are wealthy and have time on their hands, enjoy the "game" for the sake of the game. Some plaintiffs are risk takers who enjoy the "ride."I learned this once again in a recent mediation, forcing myself to remember that as [Read More]
Given the pervasive use of e mail in business and in our lives in general, it is not surprising that a lot of disputes get settled via e mail. Indeed, there is a whole cottage industry including several web sites devoted to on-line dispute resolution.Consequently, a recent federal district court [Read More]
