Two developments occurred regarding mediation confidentiality during the first week of February. First, on Monday, February 1, 2016, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument in Craig Milhouse v. Travelers Commercial Insurance, Case Nos. 13-56959 and 13-57029. Dr. and Mrs. Milhouse suffered the total loss of their home [Read More]
Depending upon where one mediates within the United States, the mediator either will start the mediation with a joint session or will simply start with separate sessions so that the adverse parties may, indeed, never see each other. For some reason, using joint sessions is popular on the east coast [Read More]
Mediators find more tools through neuroscience By Susan Kostal - ABA Journal Phyllis Pollack. Photograph by Jonah Light Mediators and other practitioners of alternative dispute resolution are using information gleaned from the research of world-class neuroscientists to calm emotions and help mediations resolve more easily. With the advent [Read More]
Several weeks ago, I posted a blog about the proposals voted on by the California Law Revision Commission to make certain changes to mediation confidentiality in California. At its August 8, 2015 meeting, the Commission proposed creating several exceptions to mediation confidentiality that would allow; (1) Both lawyers representing clients [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]
The August 2015 edition of the California Lawyer contains an article entitled Feelings in the Fray for which I was interviewed. In it, the author Susan Kostel discusses how emotions very much play a critical rule in negotiations and in resolving disputes. Understanding a bit of neuroscience goes a long way to helping parties resolve [Read More]
Tucked inside the Sunday Business section of the New York Times (June 28, 2015), I discovered an article entitled “The Mouth Is Mightier Than The Pen” written by Matt Richtel about a study revealing that an old fashioned telephone call is far better than an e mail (much less texting) [Read More]
