Recently, I took a survey about my mediation practices. Several of the questions concerned my use of AI before and during mediation. For example, do I use AI to conduct research about the issues in the case? Do I use AI to develop questions to ask during mediation? Do I [Read More]
Suppose you are a mediator and during the mediation, one party, either in a joint or separate session with you, threatens the other party with serious bodily harm or injury if they refuse to settle on the terms proposed. What do you do if anything? Do you ignore it? Keep quiet? [Read More]
You might consider this a strange question since the definition of “mediation” is “a process in which a neutral person or persons facilitate communication between the disputants to assist them in reaching a mutually acceptable agreement” (California Evidence Code 1115(a)). Notice that the operable words are “neutral” and “facilitate.” These [Read More]
(Spoiler alert: I had so much fun putting this together several years ago that I feel a reprint is in order !) No, that is not a misprint. It is the date that John Adams (in a letter to his wife Abigail, dated July 3, 1776) predicted would be the [Read More]
Do you wanna dance and hold my hand?Tell me baby I'm your lover manOh baby, do you wanna dance? Do you, do you, do you, do you wanna dance? Do you, do you, do you, do you wanna dance? Do you, do you, do you, do you wanna dance? Well [Read More]
Mediation is a process of change. It is a transformation, and like all transformations, it takes time. Through this process, perceptions change, and this does not happen in a nanosecond. So, unless carefully orchestrated, a mediation will not result in a settlement. Too many things can go wrong. I make [Read More]
Over the past few months, considerable attention has been devoted to utilizing ChatGPT as a tool to support lawyers and mediators. It can perform a variety of litigation tasks (including creating fake or non-existent case citations). When it comes to negotiations and mediations, it can help the negotiator employ a [Read More]
My husband and I have two senior dogs and plan to go out of town. I contacted a dog-sitting service that specializes in senior dogs. I telephoned the owner and left a message. She called back and we spoke. Thereafter, further information was conveyed by text. We rarely spoke; we [Read More]
