New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a touching essay about his reactions to a lifelong friend’s struggle with depression and ultimate suicide. Mr. Brooks gave Pete advice about how to deal with his depression – and found that his efforts were counterproductive. It’s only later that I read that when you give a depressed … Continue reading The Gift of Really Listening
Some of you know John Stephens, a colleague at the University of North Carolina School of Government, who has focused on conflict resolution for his long career. Like many of us, he was intrigued by ChatGPT and gave the following prompt and got the following response. Describe and contrast three main models of mediation for … Continue reading A Mediator and a Bot Walk into a Bar …
Improving mediation quality is tricky. This post describes how the Real Practice Systems Project can help. In Principles for Policymaking about Collaborative Law and Other ADR Processes, I argued that policymakers generally should consider non-regulatory policy options before adopting new rules. Non-regulatory approaches include training for disputants and professionals, dispute referral mechanisms, technical assistance for ADR … Continue reading How The Real Practice Systems Project Can Help Improve Mediation Quality
I am doing a research study entitled “Assessment of Real Practice Systems Experience” to assess how well Real Practice Systems assignments and exercises have worked in courses, trainings, and continuing education programs as well as for individual practitioners. I’m writing to invite you to participate in this study. In this document, I describe how faculty … Continue reading Would You Like to Get the Benefit of the Real Practice Systems Project and Share Your Experiences?
I developed a variety of assignments that faculty can use to help students better understand mediation, advocacy in mediation, negotiation, or other regular procedures. The assignments grow out of my article, Real Mediation Systems to Help Parties and Mediators Achieve Their Goals in the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution. You might assign students to read … Continue reading More Ways to Help Students Understand Dispute Resolution Practice
It’s indisputable that preparation before mediation sessions is very important – both for the participants and the mediators. This can make a huge difference in the process and outcome. Parties (and their lawyers, if any) need to be prepared to discuss the facts, law, interests, and/or negotiation approaches etc. This is hard enough when they … Continue reading The Critical Importance of Pre-Session Preparation in Mediation
This post describes how faculty can use ideas and materials from the Real Practice Systems Project to help students get realistic understandings of practice. I initially focused on mediation systems, which are the combination of factors affecting what mediators do before, during, and after mediation sessions. These systems include their routine procedures and strategies for … Continue reading Resources for Using Real Practice Systems Materials in Teaching
This short article presents accounts of ten mediators about the factors affecting how we handle continuing streams of mediations – our mediation systems. These systems are the combination of factors affecting what mediators do before, during, and after mediation sessions. The systems include their routine procedures and strategies for dealing with recurring challenging situations. The … Continue reading Ten Real Mediation Systems
I will present a draft of my article, Real Mediation Models to Help Parties and Mediators Achieve Their Goals, at the Works-in-Progress conference next month and I am posting it now so that you can read it before then if you like. People can attend the conference in person or by video – and I … Continue reading Would you like to read a WIP draft?
Kris Franklin and Peter Phillips of New York Law School just wrote an excellent article that people who care about teaching dispute resolution in law schools should read: Pass the Salt: Problem Resolution Lawyering Across the 21st Century Law Curriculum. Here’s the abstract: Attorneys work with clients to resolve problems. Legal education can help prepare … Continue reading Problem Resolution Lawyering Across the 21st Century Law Curriculum
