I attended the California State Bar Conference a few weeks ago. One of the panels, entitled Ten Common Mistakes in Mediation and How to Avoid Them, was presented by several speakers including Steve Mehta and Doug Noll. Both Messrs. Mehta and Noll discussed the neuroscience/ psychology involved in what it takes to resolve conflicts. Initially, [...]
My first mediation of 2015 settled based on pragmatism. It was a lemon law matter filed under California's Song Beverly Consumer Warranty Act - Civil Code Section 1792 et seq. Plaintiff purchased the vehicle from a neighbor somewhat on a whim, thinking she would use it for commuting. Unfortunately, Plaintiff found herself taking the vehicle [...]
Recently, I wrote about a new study on fairness in monkeys. (another-study-on-fairness ) "Fairness" seems to be a popular topic as my colleague Linda Bulmash in her One Minute Negotiation Tipspublished by the Los Angeles County Bar, (Volume VI, Number 2, February 2013) (Busmash) takes up the topic of "Defining Fairness in A Negotiation". In [...]
Once again, chimpanzees have been the subject of another study on "fairness". Researchers in Georgia claim they now have "...the best laboratory evidence yet that chimpanzees have a human-style sense of fairness." Those who have reviewed the study believe the study is flawed and opine that a sense of fairness is uniquely human.http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/14/16508452-do-chimps-have-a-sense-of-fair-play-study-adds-to-evolutionary-debate Researchers have [...]
In my years as a mediator, it has struck me that the smaller the dispute, the harder it is to settle. And, I have always wondered why. Well, my friend and colleague, Maria Simpson, Ph.D., in her most recent Two Minute Training, explained the "why" quite succinctly: it is all about "justice" and "fairness". She [...]