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]
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]
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]
In my years as a mediator, it has struck me that the smaller the dispute, the harder it is to settle. And, I have always wondered why. Well, my friend and colleague, Maria Simpson, Ph.D., in her most recent Two Minute Training, explained the "why" quite succinctly: it is all [Read More]
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I mediate an awful lot of "lemon law" cases. Frequently, the issue is whether the defendant manufacturer will "repurchase" the vehicle, or pay the plaintiff consumer a "sufficient" amount of money to entice her to keep the car, also known as a "cash [Read More]
First and foremost, I want to wish each of you a very healthy, happy, prosperous and peaceful New Year. To obtain that peace and a peaceful resolution to all of your disputes, may I suggest something different and oxymoronic: trust. That is right, "trust". Why? Because, a lot of disputes [Read More]
In one of my very early blogs, I discussed the book, Beyond Reason by Daniel Shapiro and Roger Fisher. In it, they discuss five ways or core concerns to overcome emotions when negotiating. One of them is "appreciation: express appreciation of and to your adversary". (The others are affiliation, autonomy, [Read More]
The second issue of ADR Times Perspectives (Vol. 1, No. 2, Nov. 2011, hit my e-mail inbox the other day. Having enjoyed the first issue, I eagerly thumbed through this second issue and found an interesting article by Jasper Ozbirn entitled "Generational Gaps in the Workplace" (at pages 8-9.) According [Read More]
