I had a mediation recently that epitomized a wasted opportunity. It lasted only an hour and did not settle. Why? Plaintiff's counsel had not done the necessary preparatory work. It was a wrongful termination action against one of the cities here in the Los Angeles area. At no time prior [Read More]
During one of my early meditation training classes, the teacher suggested that we set out food in the conference rooms during the mediation for at least two reasons. The first is that it provides an indication of how anxious/nervous/relaxed is each party. People do not tend to reach for food [Read More]
On June 7, 2012, the Third Appellate District Court in California, once again, reaffirmed the notion that where a contract requires pre-litigation mediation as a condition to recouping attorneys' fees in subsequent litigation, it means what it says. In Cullen v. Corwin, (Case No. C067861) ( Cullen v Corwin) Plaintiffs [Read More]
My dog is dying. Of cancer. Argus was not eating with his usual gusto so I took him to the vet to figure out what was wrong. On the way to figuring out that he had irritable bowel syndrome, the vet did an ultra sound, showing a 9cm (3.5 inches) [Read More]
Late last month, the Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District in California took up the issue of "binding mediation." Unlike an earlier case on the same topic that it took up in 2006 (Lindsay v. Lewandowski (2006) 43 Cal. Rptr. 3d. 846, 139 Cal. App. 4th 1618), this [Read More]
Recently, I had a sexual harassment employment mediation. Prior to the mediation and based on the briefs, I figured it was going to be either a very short mediation (i.e., the case would not settle) or a very long one (i.e. the case would either settle or almost settle). The [Read More]
Every once in awhile, I blog about how important it is to prepare for mediation and how parties and/or counsel cannot come to mediation expecting simply to "wing it" and succeed. It will not work! A recent mediation is a case in point. It was a straightforward collection case. Plaintiff [Read More]
Readers of not only my blog but those of other California neutrals are no doubt familiar with all of the hullaballoo raised over AB 2025- the California Legislature's attempt to exclude actions for legal malpractice and disciplinary actions from the cloak of mediation confidentiality. At present, that assembly bill has [Read More]
