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]
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]
