Insuring Settlement

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]

Lessons to Be Learned

Over the last couple of months, I have posted blogs entitled Anger Management (June 13, 2014), Good Faith (July 3, 2014); Listening for the Emotions (July 18, 2014); Which System is In Control? (July 25, 2014) and Vengeance Shall Never be  Yours August 1, 2014). On numerous occasions, I have also [Read More]

By |September 5th, 2014|Actual Mediations|

Preparation: It is All about Cognition

An often discussed theme in my blog has been preparation; that is, preparing for mediation, as opposed to "winging it." In previous posts, I have stressed (discussing a different reason each time) the importance of preparing for a negotiation/mediation and the dangers of "winging it."Well, as you might surmise, I [Read More]

By |December 6th, 2013|Negotiation|

Preparation Is The Key

In her latest edition of One Minute Negotiating Tips appearing in the August 2013 edition of the Los Angeles County Bar Association's digital magazine ( Volume VII, No. 2), my colleague Linda Bulmash addresses a topic near and dear to me: preparing for negotiation. Her tip actually takes more than [Read More]

By |August 30th, 2013|Mediation|

Effective Negotiations

I came across a 2009 blog the other day written by Anthony K. Tjan for the Harvard Business Review. It contains 4 simple rules for effective negotiations; reading through them- I found them to be old friends; rules that I have discussed before in my blogs: 1. Be prepared. Mr. [Read More]

By |May 3rd, 2013|Research|

Difficult Conversations

A few weeks ago, I conducted a "lemon law" mediation. Over the past few months, most of these have been conducted by using separate sessions only; counsel have not wanted to participate in joint sessions. However, this time, plaintiff's counsel wanted to hold a joint session. Defense counsel who had [Read More]

By |March 22nd, 2013|Actual Mediations|

A Wasted Opportunity

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]

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