"Good Faith"Quite often, one party accuses the other party of not negotiating in "good faith". I never gave much thought to the precise meaning of this term until I attended an entertainment law seminar in which one of the speakers mentioned that most entertainment contracts contain a clause requiring the parties to [Read More]
As a mediator specializing in "lemon law" cases, I work with many of the same plaintiffs' and defense counsel over and over again. They also work with each other over and over again, as well. These two points can be good... and can be bad as I quickly found out [Read More]
Something tells me that being a foodie if not a chef should be part of the job description of a mediator. About a month ago, I wrote about a study that showed how one's grumpiness and thus willingness to settle disputes depends on the level of one's blood sugar; the [Read More]
Let us suppose that you are at a mediation or in some sort of negotiation and the other party has just said something that has gotten you so angry, you are ready to grab your belongings and storm out of the mediation/negotiation.What should you do: give in to your feelings [Read More]
Once again, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has addressed the issue of the federal common law mediation confidentiality privilege without addressing it. It avoids the issue by saying that while the federal common law mediation confidentiality privilege applies, the defendant waived it and so it is not necessary to [Read More]
In many mediations (including those I have conducted), there comes a point when the parties are at an impasse: they are stymied in reaching a settlement. The plaintiff wants more, and the defendant believes it has already offered too much. The parties want to settle but do not know how [Read More]
Recently, I received an e mail alerting me to an order (Order_Mot for Remit_MSJ re New Trial.pdf ) of a federal court providing that mediation confidentiality would not apply to prevent an insurance company from using statements made during mediation to defend itself against claims of insurance bad faith.In Craig Milhouse [Read More]
Apologies have been much in the news this week. More specifically, Donald Sterling, in his interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN, in attempting to apologize, actually demonstrated how NOT to apologize, and how an apology can backfire if not carefully crafted.After watching the CNN interview, I decided to delve into [Read More]
