It’s been said that there are no traffic jams on the extra mile. Putting in a little more effort in what we are doing is rarely a big sacrifice, and yet it can pay huge dividends. Consider the benefits of holding a pre-mediation caucus, for...
“Read the room!” Have you ever heard that phrase? When you enter a space, even without hearing a single word spoken, most people will get a sense of what people are feeling just by surveying the faces and body language of people present. It’s a good...
You’ve heard the old saying: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Did you know there was more to that story? One day, that fisherman had to move...
Human behaviour is fascinating. Whether you think someone’s outlook on life and actions are related to nature or nurture, if we can better understand why we do what we do, it can help us to make better decisions - or at least know why we...
Cooper Mediation is pleased to announce that mediator Jonathan Cooper has been inducted to the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (CADN). Jon was welcomed to the CADN following a peer-vote review and completion of due diligence client interviews. CADN is an organization...
In a recent newsletter, I noted that as the calendar year was drawing to an end, we were also at the beginning of the holiday season. Many people around the world happened to be celebrating special days or periods that shared a common feature -...
It’s been said that necessity relieves us from the embarrassment of choice. In March 2020, the emerging COVID-19 pandemic made it imperative for much of the world to stay home when at all possible – whether we wanted to or not. If mediators desired to continue...
There’s a joke among politicians in Canadian parliaments: “It’s called Question Period, not Answer Period.” Every day during Question Period, members of cabinet are called by the Speaker to respond to questions posed by members of the opposition or backbenchers. Whether what comes out of their...
I know what you must be thinking after reading the title of this blog post. What do a playground toy and a piece of hardware have to do with negotiation and mediation? No, I haven’t lost my marbles. If you have a little patience and...
In the years since I began my mediation practice, I’ve been fortunate to develop strong client relationships and have over 1,000 mediations under my belt. I have found that when a mediator effectively facilitates a negotiation, whatever the ultimate outcome, plaintiff and defence lawyers and...