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]
In teaching mediation, I discuss the notion that mediation is a process of change, and like all changes, it takes time. It is often a slow process because it entails transformation. The mediation session is a transformation: it transforms one’s thinking. A party will walk into the session thinking one [Read More]
Last fall, the Los Angeles County Superior Court instituted a volunteer mediation panel. The program is designed to help the court better manage its immense caseload by having some of these cases resolved before trial. As part of the program, mediators agree to volunteer three hours of their time to [Read More]
The Sound of Silence is a song written by and released in 1964 by Simon and Garfunkel. It was used in the movie, The Graduate. Its lyrics include the phrases: “People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening.” It is the last phrase I want to dwell on: People hearing [Read More]
Recenly, I came upon a blog post from the Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School that is worth discussing. It is entitled “10 Hard Bargaining Negotiation Tactics to Watch” Out for in a Negotiation" by Pon Staff (January 19, 2025). I have seen one or more of these [Read More]
Most people attend mediation, fully engaged and committed to the process, hoping to resolve a matter. However, there are some who attend mediation with no real desire to settle, despite their outward claims. I had such a mediation the other day. It was court-ordered on the eve of trial. The [Read More]
While driving home the other day, I heard a story on NPR that caught my attention. It was about Kentucky prisoners hacking a computer system to put more money into their digital accounts than existed. It happened at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in Oldham County, Kentucky. After a prisoner [Read More]
