The recent vote by Great Britain to exit the European Union (aka Brexit) is an example of making decisions emotionally and without thoroughly analyzing the consequences. Or, of not thinking things through. As has been shown in various studies, people’s decisions tend to be emotional rather than rational. Indeed, some [Read More]
A few weeks ago, I discussed the paradox of Avoidance and Engagement as discussed by Bernard Mayer in his book, The Conflict Paradox (ABA and Jossey-Bass, 2015). I cited the use of mediation as an example of this paradox. Parties engage in mediation to avoid further litigation or prolonging the [Read More]
As a mediator, I have often had a party tell me that she will not settle on the terms proffered because, “It is all about principle!” I take this with a grain or two of salt because I have learned that if the other party becomes sufficiently generous in the [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]
In last week’s blog, I mentioned one paradox (competition and cooperation) discussed by Bernard Mayer in his book, The Conflict Paradox (ABA and Jossey-Bass, 2015). A second one is avoidance and engagement. Like the first paradox, on superficial glance, avoidance and engagement appear to be polar opposites. But, upon deeper [Read More]
I never really thought about Implicit Bias being the flip side of Diversity or of Diversity being the antidote to Implicit Bias until I read two articles recently. One was in the December 2015 issue of the American Bar Journal (ABA) entitled “Battling Bias” by Stephanie Francis Ward discussing a [Read More]
Depending upon where one mediates within the United States, the mediator either will start the mediation with a joint session or will simply start with separate sessions so that the adverse parties may, indeed, never see each other. For some reason, using joint sessions is popular on the east coast [Read More]
Recently, I attended the California State Bar Convention. One presentation was entitled “Tackling Emotion in Mediation: Tips for Dealing with People in Conflict.” The panelists were Claudia Hagadus Long, Esq.; David M. Miller, Esq. and Randy Kolin, Psy.D. Based on the many, many mediations I have conducted, I have found [Read More]
