Ninety-nine out of one hundred filed cases won’t end in a trial. Why are you preparing for trials in 100% of your cases when only 1% of them will have one? The majority of those lawsuits will end in an agreement. Don’t presume litigating is the only way to get to those agreements. Maybe that’s all you were taught in school, the only thing the lawyers in your town do or even what your client expects. There are more efficient and effective ways to reach agreement. They will endear you to your clients and generate more referrals. Find them.

Here’s a word cloud made from this blog. I think it tells a pretty good story about what’s being talked about here.

Click here to see the word cloud on Wordle or to create your own.

eBay has banned the sale of magic spells.

No more tarot card readings. No more conjurings. No more magic potions.

Darn. And I was just about to go buy me some digital JuJu.

Why did eBay stop? The answer warms this dispute resolution professional’s heart.

eBay will no longer serve as a marketplace for the sale of these services because they “often result in issues that can be difficult to resolve.”

Well, ya think?! (more…)

People in conflict have a common problem, even if they don’t see it that way. Here’s what it is.

They both want something the other has. That alone isn’t really a problem. The problem is they’re both afraid they won’t get it.

Mediators can help them find a solution even if they only focus on what they see as their own side of the problem. Yet if they are able and willing address their common problem they can create many more possible solutions.

photo credit: thienzieyung via photo pin cc

“Don’t talk religion or politics. It’s not polite.”

That was the conditioning I received growing-up. Of course as children we heard the adults doing exactly that: talking religion and politics. They did it after the kids had gone to bed, in veiled but intense tones. Their vowels were hushed in stage-whispers, yet we heard them spit out their consonants at those who thought differently than them.

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The traditional way lawyers choose mediators is understandable.  You choose someone with a bunch of experience in the subject matter. No one can fault you later for choosing someone who has “seen it all before.”  Even if you don’t reach agreement. You’re safe.

There are limitations with that approach.  Here’s what I mean. (more…)

We should all hope to live long enough to have stuff happen.  And I’ve had enough of a web-presence now to have stuff happen — my website got hacked.

Thanks to the eagle-eye of my technical advisor, Marsha Perry, it was spotted quickly, no great damage was done and things were fixed and back up in a jiffy.

All of my recent posts that were removed will be reposted.  And interspersed with new ones.  So watch this space!