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About Phyllis Pollack

Phyllis G. Pollack, Esq. the principal of PGP Mediation, has been a mediator in Los Angeles, California since 2000. She has conducted over 2,000 mediations. As an attorney with more than 40 years experience, she utilizes her diverse background to resolve business, commercial, international trade, real estate, employment and lemon law disputes at both the state and federal trial and state appellate court levels. Read more of Phyllis' accomplishments here: https://www.pgpmediation.com/phyllis-g-pollack-biography/

Us vs. Them or Is it We?

Recently, I attended the Annual Conference of the Southern California Mediation Association. One of the workshops intrigued me as it was all about the words we use. Entitled “Words Matter: What to leave at the Courthouse Steps” , the speakers Dr. Debra  Dupree and  Harold Coleman, Jr. Esq.  discussed how [Read More]

By |November 10th, 2023|Negotiation Strategy|

The Bias in the flip of a coin!

The Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions- Instruction 5009 on Pre-deliberations-  admonishes  jurors who are about to retire to decide the verdict that while the judge knows that the jurors will not do so, he/she  is “required to advise you that you must not base your decisions on chance, [Read More]

By |November 3rd, 2023|Research|

A Mediation Scam!

Typically, I post  blogs about a  recent mediation or about  mediation theory or practice. But today I am posting about a scam. We have all heard about various scams in which the scoundrels attempt to have someone give valuable information over the telephone or perhaps hire an attorney and convince [Read More]

By |October 27th, 2023|Actual Mediations|

Never Mediate During a Heat Wave!

Every day we read and/or see news of how climate change has affected or is impacting our daily lives. Well- an article in Live Science suggests that heat may cause us to be more aggressive (if not sleepy!) In an article  published in early September 2023 entitled “Hot Weather could [Read More]

By |September 29th, 2023|Research|

Informed Consent

Once again, I am teaching mediation ethics to graduate students at the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California. Over the last couple of weeks, we have been focusing on “informed consent.”  Standard I  of the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators  covers self-determination and mandates that [Read More]

By |September 22nd, 2023|Actual Mediations|

Mediation Ripeness

Many decades ago, when I was in law school, I learned about the “ripeness doctrine” in my Constitutional law course. Simply stated, this doctrine limits the power of a federal court to adjudicate cases that might otherwise fall within its jurisdiction. It concerns ““the timing of judicial intervention and prevents [Read More]

By |September 15th, 2023|Negotiating|
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