As a mediator, I have learned to choose my words carefully. The way I phrase something will make all the difference in the world between gaining someone’s trust and angering them. The importance of wording is brought home by Kenneth Cloke in his book, The Dance of Opposites (Goodmedia Press, 2013). [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]
I have mixed emotions. Why? Recently, I have conducted multiple mediations simultaneously in matters involving the same plaintiff’s counsel and defendant’s counsel. These are lemon law cases and so frequently the same plaintiff’s counsel will have multiple cases with the same defense counsel. The mediations are thus scheduled for a [Read More]
Happy July 4th! I hope each of you and your families enjoy the holiday! As I am in the business of conflict resolution or resolving disputes, I got to thinking about the back story behind July 4th. After all, it was a dispute that got settled by guns and warfare [Read More]
In his recently published book, Getting To Yes with Yourself (HarperCollins, 2015), William Ury explains a simple idea that may be difficult to implement; to get to Yes with others, we must first get to Yes with ourselves. Simply put; we are our own worst enemy and our own biggest obstacle [Read More]
Are you in awe? Probably not… but, according to a recent article in the Sunday New York Times (“Why Do We Experience Awe? “By Paul Piff and Dacher Keltner-May 24, 2015), we should be. According to research to be published in the June issue of the Journal of Personality and [Read More]
I have mediated over 1400 matters. Thus, I have seen parties approach negotiation in a myriad of ways; some appear to be “winging it” while others appear to have some sort of strategy in mind. The common thread appears to be “self-interest” or how can each party get the best deal [Read More]
A colleague (Esther Bleuel) recently shared a quote by Benjamin Franklin: “Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail.” Recently, the Los Angeles Daily Journal published an article by Larry Mills entitled, How Counsel can make or break a settlement. (April 3, 2015- page 2 of Verdicts and Settlements). In essence, [Read More]
