Everyone loves BATNA. It has more than 16 million hits on Google. I have loved BATNA too. Of course, people should consider alternatives to a negotiated agreement when negotiating or mediating. Unfortunately, people have loved BATNA so much that it has become a cliché that is widely misunderstood, even by some dispute resolution experts. When … Continue reading BATNA May Be Less Important Than You Think – and Teach
This post collects several videos about the litigation interest and risk assessment (LIRA) techniques described in the book that Michaela Keet, Heather Heavin, and I wrote about the subject. The videos may be of interest to academics, practitioners, and students. Considering the challenges of synchronous instruction these days, faculty may want to assign some of … Continue reading LIRA Videos
In a recent DRLE listserv colloquy, I threatened to save for another day an extended rant about why we are so doggone attracted to using confusing jargon. That day has arrived. What’s Wrong with BATNA and All the Other ATNAs? My mania was stimulated by an exchange of listserv posts about the use of BATNA … Continue reading BATNA’s Got to Go — and Here’s a Better Idea
If you teach students that it’s important to analyze their BATNAs, consider including material in your course on litigation interest and risk assessment, aka LIRA. Virtually every negotiation, mediation, and ADR survey course teaches students that they should figure out their BATNA when negotiating or mediating. That is sooooo much easier said than done, as … Continue reading Resources for Teaching About BATNA, Bottom Lines, and LIRA
From F. Peter Phillips: New York Law School’s ADR Skills Program invites you to join… THE WEDNESDAY LUNCH SERIES: CONVERSATIONS in CONFLICT RESOLUTION Beginning May 20 and for every two weeks thereafter, New York Law School will offer informal and provocative conversations with interesting leaders in the field of conflict avoidance, management and resolution. All … Continue reading NYLS Wednesday Lunch Conversations
This post summarizes presentations, data collected, and discussion in the “Risky Business: A Toolbox for Managing Litigation Interests and Risks” program on February 28, 2020 at CPR’s annual meeting. There never is enough time to cover everything you want to say, so this post elaborates the discussion at the program. Based on our book, Litigation … Continue reading LIRA @ CPR
Everyone talks about knowing one’s BATNA in negotiation and mediation. But that’s a lot easier said than done. In litigated cases, the value of the BATNA usually is the expected trial outcome, but that is notoriously hard to predict for many reasons. The outcome of numerous legal and factual issues may depend on the evidence, … Continue reading How to Calculate and Use BATNAs and Bottom Lines with LIRA
You are going to die. Before then, you may endure extended periods of suffering from illnesses and injuries (especially from falling down), grisly side effects from medical treatments, chronic physical and mental deterioration, disconnection from your earlier life, loss of control, family conflict, and entanglement with the medical and insurance industries. Some of that misery … Continue reading Helping People Make Hard Decisions – And Making Them Ourselves
Recently, Rishi Batra, Heather Heavin, Michaela Keet, and I presented a program on negotiation theory at the Southeast Conference on Conflict Management at Lipscomb University. We focused primarily on litigation interest and risk assessment (LIRA). This is the subject of a forthcoming ABA book, Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment: Help Your Clients Make Good Litigation … Continue reading Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment
Canadian mediator Rick Weiler wrote a post on the Kluwer Mediation Blog raising concerns about whether predominant model of commercial mediation using a single three- or six-hour session promotes good decision-making by litigants. He wrote: The current commercial mediation model handed down over the past 30 years is working just fine for lawyers and … Continue reading Planning for Good Quality Decision-Making in Mediation Using Two-Stage Mediation
