Tips for New Mediators (2/19/12)
Paul Stenzel
A mediator who can remember what it was like to be a newer mediator offers some tips for new mediators. It is difficult beginning any career, and mediation offers some unique challenges.

Distinguishing Between Accommodating and Avoiding (2/13/12)
Ralph Kilmann
People often ask me to spell out the difference between accommodating and avoiding. Or, as some say, “Isn’t accommodating also an easy way to avoid, since you can quickly remove yourself from the situation by giving in to the other person? What’s the difference?”

The Anti-Antagonist: Notes from a Roadtrip -- Conflict and Change (11/28/11)
Ann Begler
The events of the trip have given me pause to think, once again, about something at the heart of the work for every mediator, conflict coach and, for that matter, lawyer: we are working with clients who are typically at a point of dramatic change in their lives. And, change is easier for some than others.

Hidden Gifts: What Aikido Can Teach Us About Conflict (11/28/11)
Judy Ringer
Conflict stories are our most interesting stories. When you see two people deeply engaged in conversation, chances are that one of them is telling a conflict story. They’re fascinating. And we have such strong opinions about them, especially when they are our stories. We live them again and again as we revisit the events, the feelings, the thoughts about what we should have said, and how perfect things could be if only our adversaries would change.

Mediation, Compromises Save 2011-2012 NFL Season (11/21/11)
Michael Finkelstein
This summer's NFL player lockout and mediation drew continuing and extensive media coverage. The article shows how external and internal pressures brought about changes in respective bargaining power, and how these changes brought an end to the dispute and resulted in a settlement. What did each side compromise during mediation? And what did the final agreement consist of?

Book Review: The Grownup ABCs of Conflict Resolution (11/14/11)
Monique McKay
Monique McKay describes the book by Victoria Pynchon, A is for Assholes, the Grownup ABCs of Conflict Resolution.

Relative Effectiveness of Mediators and Attorney-Mediators in a Court Annexed Mediation Program (9/26/11)
Jim Lingl
Are attorney-mediators more effective than non-attorney mediators in resolving cases that are already in the court system? In order to provide insight into that question, and propose some answers, a 2009 study looked at all civil cases assigned to mandatory mediation by the Ventura County, California, Superior Court between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2008.

Beyond Adjudication: Resolving International Resource Disputes in an Era of Climate Change (9/26/11)
Anna Spain
Climate change is one of the greatest emerging threats to global peace and security. Among other impacts, climate change will exacerbate the scarcity of water, food, and other natural resources essential to human survival. One concern is that as these resources become scarcer, the frequency and severity of international disputes will increase. Thus, developing effective means for resolving international resource disputes is of critical global importance.

Making Hot Dogs (8/29/11)
Peter Adler
If you like negotiation -- doing it, helping others do it, teaching it, studying it, thinking about it – I hope you paid close attention to the recent beltway debt deal and didn’t avert your eyes. If you watched, you might, depending on your political predilections, have come away with a few conclusions.

You Don't Have to Settle for Less Than the Biggest Piece of the Pie (7/18/11)
A. M. Fink
You are a lawyer or a mediator and a client comes to you about a disputed piece of property. He thinks he is entitled to half of it. If you had a risk free way to guarantee that he gets at least half of it, would you use it?

Gov. Cuomo’s Excellent Negotiation: A Lesson from the Real World (7/01/11)
Robert Benjamin
While most of the attention on the recent passage of the New York Marriage Equality Act is understandably on the legal, political, social policy, and civil rights implications, the opportunity to study the negotiation process marshaled by Governor Andrew Cuomo should not be missed, especially by those who study and practice negotiation, mediation and conflict management. Cuomo’s negotiation success was less the result of reasoned persuasion and more about his strategic, flexible and effective management of people and circumstance, many of which were unexpected and predictably irrational.

Obama and the Middle East - A Mediator's Perspective (6/13/11)
Denise Tamir
In a sense, Obama holds himself out as a neutral, purporting to facilitate the Middle East peace talks as an outsider. When evaluating Obama's recent conduct using mediation methodology, however, Obama shows that he is anything but neutral.

Managing Negotiation: The Mediator in a New Role? (3/14/11)
Jose Vasconcelos-Sousa
How well are we, mediators, managing the negotiation between the mediated parties? Is this part of our “job description” as mediators? This article explores some relationships between mediation and negotiation.

Replace TSA John Pistole? (3/06/11)
Christopher C. Cooper
TSA screeners must have a toolbox full interpersonal conflict resolution skills. Their leader, Pistole, should lead by example. It seems to me that the best person to head the TSA is a seasoned street cop who knows the value of negotiation.

The Tail Wagging The Dog: Strategies For Settling Attorneys Fees-Driven Cases (2/21/11)
Malcolm Sher
How many times has a defense attorney declared litigation to be “unsettle able” because plaintiff attorney fees have far exceeded the value of the case? How many times has a plaintiff lawyer responded that the “defense tactics” were the cause? Using the context of a landlord-tenant “habitability” dispute, this article examines how statutes and behavior illustrate the problem and suggests strategies for minimizing it.

Truth Distortions In Interpersonal And Organizational Conflict (2/21/11)
Darrell Puls
It has been said that truth is the first casualty of war. In reality, factual truth is the first casualty of almost every conflict. A general rule to follow is that narrative truth stories birthed in conflict are rarely, if ever, completely factual, whether told by individuals or organizations.

The Power Of An Apology (2/14/11)
Manie Spoelstra
There are some who find it easy to apologize and there are some who find it extremely difficult. Admitting your mistake is a bitter pill to swallow, yet being able to do so often makes one a better person, more or less. You are aware that you did something wrong, which is why someone is upset with you. Deep in your heart, you know that you owe the person an apology. Do you apologize?

The Politics Of Professional Mediators: Are We As Neutral As We Pretend: A Rejoinder To Critics of ‘Obama As Negotiator in Chief’ (1/17/11)
Robert Benjamin
Mediators and negotiators are, after all, human. Notwithstanding this startling observation, however, many mediators seem to feel that their claim to “neutrality’ is somehow contaminated if their professional work is brought close to any discussion of politics---even if 98% of politics involves negotiation.

Obama As “Negotiator In Chief”: A Help Or Hindrance For Professional Conflict Managers? (1/03/11)
Robert Benjamin
As President Obama negotiates his way through the myriad of difficult and complex issues, the public is observing his approach. Whether they see negotiation as the “cursed” process of the appeaser or sellout, as they have historically, or as an effective mode of conflict management that disposes people to negotiate or mediate difficulties in their own personal and business affairs, depends in large part on his example. This is a quick and dirty “arm chair” quarterbacking of his strategy--- or lack thereof.

Sales And Alternative Dispute Resolution: Two Similar Disciplines Divided By Uncommon Languages (12/20/10)
John Turley
Negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, and mediation practices are related, sometimes interrelated, complementary, and conflicting and oftentimes in direct opposition to complex strategic sales. The two disciplines are dependent upon skillfully managing circumstances, people, data and conditions in either a developing sale or conflict resolution scenario.

The Psychology of Mediation (II): The IDR Cycle, A New Model For Understanding Mediation (11/29/10)
Elizabeth Bader
This is the second article in a series based on Elizabeth Bader’s article, “The Psychology of Mediation: Issues of Self and Identity and the IDR Cycle,” 10 PEPP. DISP. RESOL. L. J. 183 (2010).

The Value-Added Attorney (How To Make The Most Of The Court Required Mediation Process) (10/04/10)
Jack Goetz
A recent study of thousands of California litigated cases revealed that many attorneys participate in costly decision error for their clients during mediation; 61% of plaintiffs and 25% of defendants passed on offers in mediation that were better than their adjudicated result.

The Mind Of The Advocate In A Product Liability Mediation (10/04/10)
Jeffrey Krivis
Jeffrey Krivis pulls back the curtains to reveal several meaningful tools a trial lawyer can use to set the stage for a productive product liability mediation.

Zumeta, Zena: How Success Happened - Video (9/28/10)
Zena Zumeta
Zena Zumeta explains two reasons why she believes her success came to her: one is effective marketing by a business partner; the other was "pure luck" - she believes people had confidence in her ability to help them solve their problems.

Decision Analysis (9/20/10)
Bob Logan
Occasionally in order to avoid an impasse, it is helpful for the parties' case evaluation if they can calculate, based on their best guesses about the key variables, what the average result would be if the case were tried ten times. “Decision analysis” is a powerful tool for making that calculation. I have found it useful in air passenger, employment, personal injury, real estate and securities cases.