Morality and “moral” politics seem to be in the news lately. I came upon an article in the Science and Technology section of The Economist (June 22, 2017 edition) discussing “political morality”. Noting that this may be an oxymoron, the article discusses studies showing that politicians who take a position [Read More]
I just obtained a teaching position as a Lecturer of Law (aka adjunct professor) at University of Southern California Gould School of Law teaching the mediation ethics portion of an ADR Ethics class. One of the issues we will be discussing is the conflicting goals of the participants (that is, [Read More]
Several weeks ago, I posted a blog discussing two “lures of the Tribal Mind” set out by Daniel Shapiro in his recent book “Negotiating the Nonnegotiable.” (Viking 2016). Those lures- Vertigo and Repetition Compulsion- struck me as the most common and ones to which we all can easily relate. However, [Read More]
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 [Read More]
Often, during a mediation, I will ask a party, "What will it take to resolve this dispute? " Every once in a while, I am met with silence or a blank look. Why? I suspect it is because she really has not had the “quiet” time to reflect. Like everyone else in [Read More]
In most disputes, when people get angry- it is a bad sign! It usually means that the dispute will NOT get resolved, and that one or the other party will leave in a huff. Indeed, neuroscience teaches us that when the parts of our brain that control our emotions are operating [Read More]
Previously published in the September 2015 issue of "Advocate" Magazine, Pages 44-55 The September 2015 issue of Advocate (Journal of Consumer Attorneys Associations for Southern California) focuses on ADR-Choice is Good. I am privileged to contribute an article on mediation confidentiality and re-print it here. It may be found [Read More]
Recently, I posted a blog about the August 2015 meeting of the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) in which as part of its study on the “Relationship between Mediation Confidentiality and Attorney Malpractice and Other Misconduct " (Study K-402), the Commission requested that Staff Counsel draft legislation to include exceptions to [Read More]
