We all say that preparation is important – it’s more popular than mom and apple pie – but we have only vague ideas about how people actually consider possible alternatives. This includes the negotiators themselves. We sometimes list general factors or approaches, but usually that’s as far as we get. I will go out on … Continue reading Stone Soup: Learning How People Actually Prepare for Negotiation and Mediation
Out of the blue, I got an email from a student at my university who I had never met. She said that her best friend is graduating from college this month and will start law school in the fall. As a graduation present, she is collecting letters with advice for her friend and she asked … Continue reading Letter to Kelly
I was really pleased to meet Randall Kiser at last year’s ABA conference. I was very impressed by his important study (co-authored with Martin Asher and Blakeley McShane), Let’s Not Make a Deal: An Empirical Examination of Decision Making in Unsuccessful Negotiations. The top-line finding was that in 85.5% of cases, parties went to trial … Continue reading Kiser’s Soft Skills for the Effective Lawyer
The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being just issued its report, The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change. It’s a thoughtful, constructive effort to address problems that lawyers face in practice and to promote their well-being. It deals with serious issues including substance abuse, mental health problems, and suicide. It includes recommendations … Continue reading Dealing with Causes as Well as Symptoms of Law Students’ and Lawyers’ Lack of Well-Being
From WFOI Elayne Greenberg: The Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution at St. John’s School of Law and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) invite you to participate in the ninth annual Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, a competition of competence in the dispute resolution field. The triathlon is the first and only competition to … Continue reading 2017 Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon
I think that one of our main missions in the DR field is to promote constructive engagement in conflict. We know that conflict is inevitable and it can be constructive and/or destructive. Often, when people are in conflict, it is very destructive and everyone just wants to end the conflict as quickly as possible while … Continue reading Touching Story of Relationship of Constructive Engagement in Conflict
The presidential election campaign this year has provided several teachable moments for law students and lawyers and this post focuses on one of them. Unless you have been hibernating for the past few weeks, you know that a number of women have accused Republican candidate Donald J. Trump of sexual misconduct. Mr. Trump and his … Continue reading Why Don’t People Complain? Implications for Defense Counsel. And Some Practical Ethics Hypos for Students.
I recently had a chance to talk with Lainey Feingold, the author of a great new book on negotiation, which she describes below. Before I get to her description, I want to say a few words about why I think her book is particularly important. I have been writing about early dispute resolution, especially planned … Continue reading Lainey Feingold’s Book on Structured Negotiation
In my post, Non-Apology Apologies, Part 2, I briefly described Wells Fargo’s acceptance of responsibility but refusal to apologize for its fraudulent practices in creating accounts without customers’ authorization. This post focuses on a point in a New York Times article that provides fascinating background relevant to lawyers, law professors, and law students. Top executives … Continue reading Non-Apology Apologies, Ethics, and Lawyers
The ABA Journal profiled Cleveland-based law firm Thompson Hine and its managing partner, Deborah Z. Read, highlighting their “SmartPaTH” process to manage cases and satisfy clients. This is part of the Journal’s “Legal Rebel” series. It is both amusing and sad that these ideas would seem radical, especially these days. Here’s the description of the … Continue reading Law Firm Uses “SmartPaTH” to Manage Cases and Satisfy Clients
