Listening (5/13/08)
Alan Sharland
The purpose of listening in conflict resolution is not for the listener to get ‘the facts’ but to support the speaker in understanding their own thoughts and feelings about the destructive conflict they are involved in.

An Improbable Fairy Tale Of Alien Romance (5/12/08)
Deborah Sword
On a small lovely planet with a magenta sky and cinnamon flavored water, at least three social groups interact successfully. Couplings between those of different social groups could get confusing for someone who was trying to understand how the social groups into which he or she had coupled actually worked. The Sparkle culture, norms and rules described certain things as good behavior and correct thinking, and the Tinkle culture, norms and rules described certain things as good behavior and correct thinking. But they were not necessarily the same things. This could be a challenge in couplings between individuals from the different social groups.

Are You Really Ready for Divorce? The 8 Questions You Need to Ask (5/12/08)
Bruce Derman, Wendy Gregson
This article outlines what couples need to do in order to face the numerous dilemmas that are inherent in divorce. A dilemma implies that you are torn between two choices, each of which have undesirable fearful elements. If people have not resolved their dilemmas before the divorce, they go through the process trying to manage their fear in different ways by hiding their doubt, responsibility; vulnerability, or dependency.

The Evolution and Future of Mediation: Reconnecting with our Activist Roots (5/08/08)
James Melamed
The purpose of this article is to recount some of mediation’s past, consider its current state, and offer a few thoughts on development trends for the future, asking the question whether we are doing “justice” to the “mediation movement” we have created. Unfortunately, one can rather easily argue that mediation’s special qualities--its voluntariness, safety, self-determination and capacity--have lost a measure of their shine. In fact, it is this author’s suggestion that the greatest threat to mediation is likely its successful institutionalization. At stake is whether mediation is a path to best solutions, or merely to barely sufficient ones.   1 Comment

Mediación: un aporte a la transformación de las relaciones sociales (5/08/08)
Alejandro M. Nató, Liliana María Carbajal, María Gabriela Rodríguez Querejazu
Esta nota enuncia algunas de las ideas desarrolladas en el libro: Mediación Comunitaria. Conflictos en el escenario social urbano (México, Universidad de Sonora-Centro Internacional de Estudios Sobre Democracia y Paz Social, 2005); Alejandro Nató, María Gabriela Rodríguez Querejazu y Liliana Carbajal.

Online ADR Journalist: An Interview with Victoria Pynchon (5/05/08)
Gini Nelson
This is an interview by Gini Nelson of Victoria Pynchon, J.D., LL.M,. Victoria is a panelist with the Southern California ADR firm Judicate West. She was awarded her LL.M Degree in Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute in 2006 after 25 years of complex commercial litigation practice. Her Settle It Now Negotiation Blog is a leader in the field, and she also publishes the IP ADR Blog, and the Mediators Without Borders blog.

Einstein’s Tips For Negotiated Solutions In Human Conflicts (5/05/08)
Luis Miguel Diaz
Albert Einstein was considered one of the great problem solvers of his generation. His remarks about the universe query scientific and conventional wisdom. Can we discover in his life and innovative beliefs any attitude, aptitude, method or skill suitable for a conflict solver who intervenes in human conflicts?   1 Comment

Are Mediators Damage Control Experts?: A Case Study of Community Mediation (5/05/08)
Jonathan W. Reitman
I never thought of myself as a “damage control expert.” That’s not a phrase I’ve ever used in the ADR law school courses or 40-hour mediation courses I have taught over the years. And yet, if I can prevent parties from being “crushed by the weight of their conflict,” perhaps a damage control expert is precisely what I am.

Mediate.com Blog Archive for May 5, 2008 (5/05/08)
This is an archive of the Mediate.com Blog for May 5, 2008.

Mediate.com Blog Archive for April 28, 2008 (4/29/08)
This is an archive of the Mediate.com Blog for April 28, 2008.

Saadia Touval, 76, Expert on Mediation Issues (4/28/08)
Adam Bernstein Bernstein
Saadia Touval, 76, a political scientist who made an influential argument that biased mediators in international disputes were often the most effective, died April 17 at his home in Rockville. He had gastric cancer.

Shared Decision Making and Role Clarification Potentials in Medicine (4/28/08)
Jerry Green
Decision making patterns are studied according to four models that distinguish shared decisionmaking from informed consent. Principles of collaborative planning for varying decisionmaking according to the kinds of decisions and the values and preferences of patients and physicians are defined and discussed. The values and risks of allocating responsibility by express agreement are compared with situations in which assumptions about decisionmaking responsibility may be implied from circumstances or accustomed practice.

Choose Carefully: All Mediators Are Not Created Equal (4/28/08)
Lee Jay Berman
If a mediation is going to have a chance at success, perhaps the most important decision is who will sit in the neutral chair at the head of the table. From case to case, that decision will vary. Attorneys owe it to their clients to invest the time in investigating, strategizing and selecting the right mediator for each case. In a time where we have retired judges, litigators, transactional attorneys, so called “recovering litigators”, and professional mediators available, and when more mediators are specializing in particular areas of practice, here are 13 tips on the best ways to select a mediator effectively.

Liderazgo Positivo: Construir el futuro con imaginación e idealismo (4/28/08)
Franco Conforti
La elección de este tema responde en parte, a lo novedoso e innovador y en parte a la comprobación práctica que personalmente he podido hacer de los postulados teóricos que voy a explicar.

Of War and Negotiation: Part 3, The Allure of War: If You Want Peace, Study War (4/22/08)
Robert Benjamin
Fighting, often including war---or flight, the avoidance of conflict, are the biological and emotional responses of animals and humans to a perceived threat or attack. Neuro transmitters fired in the brain correspond with feelings of fear or anger. Neuro-scientific studies strongly suggest that animals and humans are hard-wired to fight and there is a biological basis for the allure of war. By contrast, there is no corresponding neuro-biological inclination to negotiate. While there is clearly well established evolutionary psychological basis for humans to engage in cooperative behavior for their common security, those acts still require more deliberative brain work. Studying the allure of war is necessary to further negotiation.   1 Comment

Mediate.com Blog Archive for April 21, 2008 (4/21/08)
This is an archive of the Mediate.com Blog for April 21, 2008.

Review of Eye of the Storm Leadership by Peter Adler (4/21/08)
John Sautelle
If you want a thought-provoking, engaging and at times inspirational read then this is the book for you! Apart from conflict resolution much of my professional time these days is spent working with private and public sector organisations developing leadership skills, so the title to Peter’s latest book immediately caught my eye. As it turns out, this book is not about leadership generally – it focuses specifically on leadership in the context of conflict. Whilst the content is directly relevant to anyone who works in conflict resolution, I think it is clear Peter did not have mediators alone in mind when he put pen to paper.

Calming Techniques (4/21/08)
John Ford
In a previous article I suggested that there are two ways we can approach our penchant for reactivity when we are triggered. One seeks to address why it is that we are triggered in the first place, the more deep and long term solution. The other focuses on the moment that we are triggered, and seeks to restore short term balance. It is really the symptomatic response-the band aid-that helps the person in conflict calm down, and release the primal grip of the amygdala so that the cortex can come into play. This article focuses on techniques for calming down.   1 Comment

Mediating the Commercial Lease Dispute (4/21/08)
Jerry Slusky
Commercial lease disputes are more readily resolved by mediation. Mediation has been successful in commercial real estate disputes for several reasons. Due to the nature of the real estate market, land, or rental space may not have the same value at the end of the litigation as it did when the dispute arose.

CLINTON VS. OBAMA: Mediating a Solution to the Democratic Nomination Battle (4/21/08)
Matthew J. Bailey
Momentum seems to be an unlikely solution to the Democratic nomination because the candidates are almost tied in total delegates. They are also running neck and neck in the public opinion polls for the few remaining state primary contests as well as the national polling. Party leader Howard Dean plans to let the situation resolve itself according to established party rules. Other senior Democrats have floated possible endgame scenarios, but all have stopped short of endorsing an actual solution. Thus, another process is needed to negotiate an end to the nomination, one through which the candidates’ interests will be explored and fairly addressed. Using traditional mediation principles, this article explores how mediation might be successfully used to settle the dispute between Senators Clinton and Obama of who will be the Democratic nominee for President this year.   3 Comments

Ester Soriano, Mediator, Filipino activist, foreperson in Rodney King civil trial, dies at 61 (4/20/08)
Mediate.com Editor
Ester Soriano, a Filipino-American civil rights activist who was the jury foreperson in the civil damages trial of Rodney King, has died. She was 61. A nationally recognized pioneer in mediation, Soriano worked 37 years for Los Angeles county and created its Dispute Resolution Program.   3 Comments

La proteccion de la confidencialidad en la mediacion (4/15/08)
Walter A. Wright
La importancia de la confidencialidad en la mediación no puede ser subestimada. En la mediación, el mediador cuenta con la confidencialidad como una herramienta esencial. En la introducción, el mediador asegura a los participantes la confidencialidad del proceso para crear una "zona de tranquilidad" y ayudar a la expresión franca de sentimientos e intereses. Más tarde en el proceso, el mediador alienta a los participantes a generar ideas y opciones para la solución del conflicto.

A Conflict Transformer: An Interview with Kristine Paranica (4/14/08)
Gini Nelson
This is an interview by Gini Nelson of Kristine Paranica. Kristine is the Director of the University of North Dakota Conflict Resolution Center (CRC), where she also serves as Adjunct Professor of Law in Alternative Dispute Resolution. She is a Fellow and Administrative Director of the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation (ISCT), and a trainer and facilitator of transformative mediation, and conflict management.

Independent Report Concerning Mediation And The Mediation Profession In Romania (4/14/08)
Zeno Daniel Sustac
Mediation cannot be implemented in a legal system overnight! The efficiency of integrating mediation within the Romanian legal system is not guaranteed by the passing of a law which regulates mediation and the respective profession. A mediation law is not sufficient in a country which has had a vague relation with mediation only through legal commissions in a period which it wants forgotten.

Communicating Effectively During Conflict (4/14/08)
Lynne Eisaguirre
When we’re arguing during a conflict, most of us are not listening; we are, as my son says, “just talking to ourselves.” Clearly, one of the most important conflict resolution skills is listening. In order to listen well, we need to prepare.

Christian With Muslim Religous Dialogue (4/14/08)
Leo Hura
Discussion about the need for Religious dialogue between the different faiths has become ubiquitous. There are many examples, one being, “Diplomacy in an Age of Faith”, by Thomas F. Far who argues “the United States has failed to understand the global resurgence of religiosity.” Can mediators fail to be involved?

Mediate.com Blog Archive for April 14, 2008 (4/14/08)
This is an archive of the Mediate.com Blog for April 14, 2008.

Resolucion de disputas en y por internet (4/12/08)
Nora Femenia, Ph.D
El desarrollo de los métodos alternos de resolución de conflictos ha llegado al medio electrónico, donde tiene un poderoso aliado. Dado el crecimiento vertiginoso de las transacciones online, urge desarrollar nuevos métodos de resolver conflictos adaptados al medio electrónico. El internet ofrece tanto seguridad como privacidad, rapidez y bajo costo al procesamiento masivo de quejas y disputas con clientes de comerciantes online. Aquí se describen sus principios, sus diferencias y algunas exitosas aplicaciones prácticas.

Without The Three Skills Necessary, You May Fail As A Conflict Management Practitioner (4/07/08)
Rick Voyles
Conflict management consists of three different skill sets: communication skills, negotiation skills, and resolution skills. All three are necessary and indispensable elements for the conflict management practitioner.

Simplicity Works (4/07/08)
Roger D. Hartstone
A ball. A bat. A glove. A field, A player. Baseball is brilliant in its simplicity. So too is mediation. Sometimes we forget the basics, while other times we complicate them for a variety of questionable reasons. The process of mediation ought not become burdened with new terms, alternative tools, legalese, convoluted techniques, or confusion. Two opposing parties and a neutral. That is it.   3 Comments

No News Is Good News – Opting Out of Daily Mass News Media (4/07/08)
Laurie Israel
I admit it. I was a newspaper addict. A three-paper-a-day addict. Mornings before leaving for work, there was the Boston Globe, followed by The New York Times. These took an hour of my time. Then after work, the local afternoon daily, The Patriot Ledger. Mine was a seven-day-a-week habit, with Sunday mornings spent luxuriating in the extra time to peruse my Sunday papers.   2 Comments

Mediate.com Blog Archive for April 7, 2008 (4/07/08)
This is an archive of the Mediate.com Blog for April 7, 2008.

InstantAssist Conflict Resolution for Business Networks and Franchises (4/03/08)
James Melamed
Mediate.com CEO James C. Melamed, J.D., today announced InstantAssist opportunities for business networks and franchises. InstantAssist is a new initiative of Mediate.com, the world’s leading mediation site since 1996. InstantAssist provides experienced mediators to callers who want immediate or scheduled negotiation and conflict consultation.

Eye of the Storm Leadership - Chapter One (4/01/08)
Peter Adler
Peter Adler is pleased to here provide Chapter One of his new book "Eye of the Storm Leadership." This chapter is entitled: Guerilla Bridge Building and includes free access to the accompanying video.

Secret To A Successful Divorce: Instead Of An Attorney Use Self-Help, Mediation Or Collaborative Law (3/31/08)
Ed Sherman
As a family-law attorney for over 35 years, I can tell you that the secret to a successful divorce is to minimize your involvement with the legal system and to avoid using lawyers who work in it. Where one spouse is a controller abuser—5 to 10 percent of all cases—this advice does not apply, but for everyone else, going to an attorney as your first step is the worst thing you can possibly do and court is the worst possible place to settle divorce disagreements.