Arbitration & Mediation

Negotiating Life's End: Part Five

Posted on June 03, 2008
(me and Dad in San Diego's Balboa Park a year or so after the divorce)Conflict Suppression, Denial, Avoidance, Engagement, Resolution, Transformation and TranscendenceIf you've been reading this series, you already know my family's conflict resolution technique of choice -- denial...

Negotiating Life's End: Part Six

Posted on June 03, 2008
Evil is not initially a grand thing, but begins innocuously with a constriction of empathy and compassion, creating . . . . the “smallest piece of evil.” This is simply the inability to find the other within the self. This smallest piece of evil can expand rapidly, replacing empathy with antipathy, love with hate, trust with suspicion, and confidence with fear...

Negotiating Life's End: Part Four

Posted on June 02, 2008
(Dad with his One True Love -- the Boat -- July 4, 1976) We tell ourselves stories in order to live.  . . . . We look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder of five. We interpret what we see, select the most workable of the multiple choices...

Negotiating Life's End: an Expression of Gratitude for My Friends and Readers

Posted on June 01, 2008
(image from Thunderbow Expeditions) Though my posts about my father's illness and imminent death may seem "off topic," as my friend Joe Mockus' poem (below) reminds us, we are all heading toward this particular destination...

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Negotiating Life's End: Part Two

Posted on May 31, 2008
(right:  Dad at 19; everthing about him was big -- not just the hair)My step-mother's disembodied voice rose up from my answering machine last week with the words we're all afraid to hear:  "Vickie, your Dad's in the hospital; his condition is not good;  please call me...

Negotiating Life's End

Posted on May 31, 2008
(left:  Dad, middle, after the dust bowl in Julian, California)I am told that my father is dying.  This is not news.  Dad has a progressive disease that ordinarily results in death only after years of suffering.  I'm telling you this story (which will be the subject of several posts) because it's been suggested to me that I lodge a complaint with the local community hospital dad was checked into last week...

Negotiating Life's End: Part Three

Posted on May 31, 2008
(right:  Mom and Dad, late '40s)Dr. X promptly sent me a social worker who was willing and able to answer all of my questions about my father's present condition; the common courses end-stage Parkinson's takes; and, the options available for his care -- aggressive treatment; tube feeding with hydration; palliative care; and, in-home hospice services...

Los Angeles Mediator Jerry Lazar Brings Mediation to Reality T.V.

Posted on May 29, 2008
(right:  mediate this??)Reporter Greg Katz reports in today's Daily Journal, that Two L.A. Mediators Are Shopping a TV Pilot That Would Showcase Their Art -- one of whom is Settle It Now's friend local mediator and magician Jerry Lazar of the Fight Nicely Blog...

More Great Resources from the Bar Association Formerly Known as Stodgy

Posted on May 28, 2008
Before giving you today's list of ABA Journal resources that landed in my in-box this morning, I want to announce my appearance on the Journal's dot com front page in its "Ask the Experts" feature.  If you have a question -- any question -- relating to negotiation strategy and tactics, conflict resolution, mediation advocacy, persuading the opposition that he doesn't fully understand just how $%#*^ his case is, the social psychology of conflict, or the settlement of that pesky piece of litigation that is turning moldy on the upper right hand corner of your desk, just write it into the email box here and your answer will be quickly forthcoming...

More Thoughts on Negotiation and Appeasement

Posted on May 27, 2008
(right:  enemy?  ally?  victim? victimizer?)Everyone's been talking about negotiating with our enemies and appeasement lately.  I've written several posts on it here and here, for instance.  I've also read dozens of news and magazine articles on the topic in the past few weeks, here and here, for instance...

War Poet Wilfred Owen on Memorial Day

Posted on May 26, 2008
(above:  Sand Soldiers from Arlington West in Santa Barbara)Dulce Et Docorum EstBent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge...

In Praise of "Non-Lawyer" Mediators

Posted on May 26, 2008
Tomorrow I'll be speaking at a seminar sponsored by our local Superior Court to acquaint "non-attorney" mediators with the law of contracts.  This phrase "non-attorney" mediator rankles some conflict resolution professionals.  They often point out that there are no "non-physician" health care workers -- only nurses, physicians' assistants, physical therapists, and the like...

Looking for More Cooperation? Expand the Group

Posted on May 25, 2008
Michael Tomasello, co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Antrhopology, authors "Idea Lab" in this morning's Sunday New York Times Magazine, asking How are Humans  Unique?Absent our collaborative skills, Tomasello tells us, we're not even the smartest animals on the planet...

The ABC's of Conflict Resolution: "E" is for Enemy

Posted on May 24, 2008
This is your enemy.  According to the American Heritage Dictionary, he   feels hatred toward, intends injury to, or opposes [your] interests[; he's] . . . a foe[;]  [a] hostile power or force, such as a nation[;] . . . [a] member or unit of such a force[; or,] ...

LEGAL-EASE FOR MEDIATORS ON MAY 27

Posted on May 24, 2008
The Los Angeles Superior Court ADR Committee Presents LEGAL-EASE FOR MEDIATORS  -- FLYER HEREA panel presentation of legal definitions and terms of art in: • Civil Litigation presented by Jan Schau• Contracts presented by Victoria Pynchon • Employment presented by Nikki Tolt• Personal Injury and Insurance presented by Sandy Gage• Real Property presented by Mark LoetermanModerated by Peter H...

Contentious Litigation? Get a War Crimes Negotiator to Settle the Case

Posted on May 23, 2008
Is your litigation particularly contentious?  Take a page from theBarbie- Bratz litigation which the AmLaw Daily reports was partially settled with the assistance of Pierre-Richard Prosper, a former ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues in the Bush administration...

Should We Fear to Negotiate or Only Fear to Negotiate Badly?

Posted on May 22, 2008
In an Op-Ed piece in today's New York Times -- Kennedy Talked, Khrushchev Triumphed -- Nathan Thrall and Jesse James Wilkins suggest that John F. Kennedy's worst two days negotiating should be a lesson to Barack Obama.  The lesson?  That "sometimes there is good reason to fear to negotiate...

Ohio Foreclosure Mediation Program Handbook

Posted on May 20, 2008
Ohio Foreclosure Mediation Program - Get more documents

Congress Negotiates the Foreclosure Crisis

Posted on May 20, 2008
In this morning's Los Angeles Times,  staff writer Maura Reynolds explains how -- and why -- the Senate has reached a deal on foreclosure legislation.  "Key senators" writes Ms. Reynolds,announced Monday a bipartisan agreement on the broad elements of a plan to avoid foreclosures and speed the refinancing of mortgages for roughly 500,000 troubled homeowners without taxpayers footing the bill...

Can We Negotiate Justice?

Posted on May 19, 2008
Thanks to Geoff Sharp over at mediator blah blah for citing us to Justice Trumps Peace: the Enduring Relevance of Owen Fiss’s Against Settlement by Don Ellinghausen, Jr.  Geoff Sharp's excellent post on the issues raised (again) is here and Ellinghusen's exhaustive treatment of mediation's limitations and overblown claims here...

Negotiating Justice in Community Mediation

Posted on May 19, 2008
Negotiated Resolutions in Community MediationNearly every condominium complex harbors an outlaw -- the man, woman, couple or family who refuse to follow the rules.  The young couple who blasts the woofers off their stereo system at 3 a...

Negotiating the Recession: We Can't Be Forever Blessed

Posted on May 18, 2008
The New York Times reports this morning that there were 243,353 foreclosure filings in April alone, nearly three times the total in the same month just two years ago," making it all but inevitable that  "many millions of American families will be losing their homes before long...

Gay Marriage in California: Is it Good for Business?

Posted on May 16, 2008
No, I'm not jumping into any gay marriage debate; nor opining about the "rectitude" of the "position" of either side.  I do have gay friends for whom I'm happy, of course.  Because I want to see them happy and because exclusion from the mainstream -- whether one believes it to be voluntary or not -- is difficult at best and incredibly painful at worst...

Must Read for All Women Negotiating Law Firm Life

Posted on May 16, 2008
Below is my review in The Complete Lawyer of Lauren Stiller Rikleen's must-read book Ending the Gauntlet:  Removing Barriers to Women's Success in the Law.Concluding paragraph:At bottom, this book calls for management practices that will benefit all attorneys while at the same time recognizing the disparate impact current practices have on women...

Negotiation Deal Breakers

Posted on May 16, 2008
My readers will recognize many of the tips included in this article published last week in the Los Angeles Daily Journal -- Bullying, Rigidity Are Surefire Negotiation Deal Breakers.  Read it by clicking on the link above or below -- to enlarge page on the document embedded below, click on right-hand arrow and scroll down toBullying, Rigidity Are Surefire Negotiation Deal Breakers - Get more documents

Negotiating Fractions

Posted on May 16, 2008
I can't say I would have gone to medical school had I been taught arithmetic by these guys (I can't stand the sight of blood) but I might have gone to business school.  More importantly, the ability to quickly calculate percentages does turn out to be pretty darn useful when negotiating deals...

Our Sister IP ADR Blog Selected as "Top Blog" for LexisNexis Copyright Law Center

Posted on May 15, 2008
 Many of our regular readers know that I have gathered together some of the best IP arbitrators and mediators over at the IP ADR Practice Group and the IP ADR Blog.  We keep one another up to date on the law of patent, copyright and trademark infringement and share our knowledge with one another about the various industries we have each served...

"B" is for Bully Update: Mom Indicted for MySpace Bullying Leading to Teen's Suicide

Posted on May 15, 2008
I've blogged several times about bullying, both here and over at the IP ADR Blog.  We learned from Forbes.com today that federal prosecutors are seeking an indictment against the mom we wrote about here for her alleged role in an online hoax that caused a 13-year old girl to commit suicide...

Negotiating Gender with USDC Settlement Officers and Nina Miereding

Posted on May 14, 2008
I just finished taking a two-day advanced mediation training offered gratis to settlement officers for the federal district court in the Central District of California.  The cross-cultural mediation training portion of the seminar was conducted by the dynamite, brilliant and entertaining mediator and trainer, Nina Meierding...

Negotiating Blogratitude: Best Post of the Week Anywhere in Business and Money-Related Blog Articles

Posted on May 12, 2008
Thanks again to IP attorney R. David Donoghue of the Chicago IP Litigation Blog for including my post on Trust and Compromise in the May Carnival of Trust.  Now I have even more reason to be grateful.  The Political Calculations Blog's weekly On the Moneyed Midways compilation of business and money related blog carnivals choose my post How Can I Convince My Client to Lose More than Predicted and Still Maintain My Own Credibility? as the Best Post of the Week Anywhere!Makes a girl feel all appreciated guys!  Thanks!!!  And nice to find the Best of the Best aggregated for readers on a weekly basis at Political Calculations which we'll be adding to our blog roll post haste!

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