Last week, I conducted a mediation in which the Plaintiff was quite angry at what had happened to her. As I learned, she owns an auto body repair shop. Someone had brought a vehicle in for repair. However, that person abandoned the vehicle, never coming to pick it up. So, [Read More]
Often, in mediation, I suggest to a party that she look at the issue from the viewpoint of her adversary, i.e., the person sitting in the other room. I do this in an effort to have that party become more open in finding a solution to the dispute; to realize [Read More]
Two different blog posts on the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School's website suggests that mood and one's emotions play an important role in negotiations. If one negotiate while in a bad mood, chances are the negotiations will not turn out well. For this reason, we, intuitively, wait until [Read More]
Once again, The Economist reported on another quirky study. In an article entitled "Tall dark and stable" in the psychology section of its July 14, 2012 edition, the author discusses how "wobbly furniture leads to a desire for emotional stability." Evidently, previous studies have shown that if one is given [Read More]
In its July 21, 2012 edition, The Economist (in an article entitled " 'Snot Fair") discusses a research project conducted by Dr. Nicola Raihani of University College, London and Katherine McAuliffe of Harvard recently published in Biology indicating that people will cry "foul" when they are taken advantage of or [Read More]
Recently, several different organizations have brought to my attention, a resolution on mediator regulation entitled SR-05-01-2012 proposed by Bay Area Lawyers For Individual Freedom to the California Conference of Delegates. Jo Hoenninger, Esq. is its author. The proposed resolution, if passed by the California Conference of Delegates at California's Annual [Read More]
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]
The business section of the Sunday (July 7, 2012) New York Times had an interesting article entitled "Don't Indulge. Be Happy." by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton. Ms. Dunn is an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia while Mr. Norton is an associate professor of business [Read More]
