Mediating a complex, multi-party case is a lot like baking a cake. It's not enough to have the right ingredients. You need to observe careful direction and patience to blend the ingredients in the right quantities and at the just the right time to produce...
From beginning to end, taking part in a civil lawsuit can be similar to competing in a grueling marathon. Prior to attending mediation, the parties have likely spent several years in litigation. Throughout this period, they have spent money and expended energy to strengthen their...
If two is company, three is a crowd, and four is a party, what is more than a dozen? The answer, as I recently learned when conducting a multi-party mediation for a complex claim, is that more than a dozen is a challenge (and that...
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...
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...
I like to think of a mediation as planning a trip to Settlement-ville. Unless one or more parties are absolutely set on going to Trial-town instead, the people at a mediation are generally interested in finding a way to a mutually agreeable destination - even...