What Women's Initiatives Need (5/21/12)
Victoria Pynchon
It’s not at all surprising that most women’s initiatives at most AmLaw200 law firms have been dismal failures. They failed because they lack buy-in; are often unfunded; and, no one takes them seriously.

Keys to Successful Mediation: Understanding Brain Wiring and the Complex Listening Dynamic (5/20/12)
Gloria Vanderhorst, Ellen Kandell
Shifting your clients from positional, competitive mindsets to more cooperative and collaborative thinking where creative and mutually beneficial solutions can be generated is the goal of most dispute resolution professionals. This article explores some of the brain's structure and functions and how they contribute to the natural competitive and collaborative instincts that operate simultaneously.

California Legislation Would Add Legal Malpractice Exception to Strict Mediation Confidentiality Statute (5/15/12)
Keith Seat

Legislation has been introduced in California to provide a narrow exception to the state’s strict mediation confidentiality statute so that clients may use communications with their own attorneys during mediation if needed to assert claims of professional negligence or misconduct against their counsel in later proceedings. This legislation follows the January 2011 decision by the California Supreme Court in Cassel v. Superior Court, which rejected the Court of Appeal’s creation of a judicial exception to the confidentiality statute, and prevented a party from using his private communications with his attorneys before and during a mediation in a later action for legal malpractice. The Court relied on the plain language of the statue and stated that any exception must come from the legislature.

California Assembly Bill No. 2025 (February 23, 2012)

Mediation or Meditation? (5/14/12)
John Sturrock
Much has been written about the human brain in recent times. Eolene reminded us that the brain has two components, the limbic brain, which developed as homo sapiens dealt with primitive conditions and learned the importance of fight or flight. Later, the neo-cortex, the more rational part of the brain, was formed. But the two were – and are – not united. Our emotions could still override logic, especially under pressure. We are not Mr. Spock.

Real Knowledge is to Know the Extent of One's Ignorance (5/14/12)
Lily Ng
“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance,” Confucius says. The effects of culture on contradiction and conflict management

Dopamine Related to Motivation? (5/07/12)
Stephanie West Allen
After reading books such as Psychology's Ghosts: The Crisis in the Profession and the Way Back, I am even more likely to see most research studies as, at best, clues, and clues only only in the material world. That's how I view this study written about below, but I post the news release here because I can never be reminded too often that we are each different; this study is another reminder that one size does not fit all.

Too Happy??? (4/23/12)
Phyllis Pollack
Science never ceases to amaze me. Now there is a study that finds that being too happy is not a good thing. According to an article in the April 2, 2012 edition of The Washington Post entitled “Too much happiness can make you unhappy, studies show”, one can be less happy by being so happy. Sounds oxymoronic to me!

The Mediator as Healer? (4/17/12)
Nigel Singer
I have been a mediator for years, but only recently have I been toying with the idea that my role is a healer. This is a transition for me and an ongoing process. I am working through this concept and how it affects my identity. I also wonder how it changes my approach to my clients.   1 Comment

How Important is Mindset to Conflict Resolution? (4/09/12)
Stephanie West Allen
What's your mindset about conflict? Those conflicts that you may be a party to and those that you work with as a conflict professional? What's your mindset about the role of a mediator? Before you answer those questions, read this good overview article about mindsets and their strong influence.

Lowering Malpractice Risk through Disclosure (3/26/12)
Holly Hayes
The University of Michigan Health System implemented a system to respond to patient injuries and medical malpractice claims and has “lowered its average monthly cost rates for liability, patient compensation, reserves, and non-compensation legal costs” as well as reducing “its average monthly rate of new claims from 7.03 to 4.52 claims per 100,000 patient encounters, decreased the average monthly rate of lawsuits from 2.13 to 0.75 per 100,000 patient encounters, and reduced the time between claim reporting and resolution”.

Nursing Focus on Conflict Engagement (3/12/12)
Holly Hayes
The American Nurse, the official publication of the American Nurses Association, published the article The Art of Engagement: Nurses, ANA work to address conflict. Here is an excerpt:

Mediation in Ireland: Current Trends, Future Opportunities: Part 1 (12/19/11)
Caitriona Heffernan
In this two part series, Caitriona discusses mediation in a variety of settings in Ireland. In this section she examines the judicial system, collective disputes, conciliation, construction, and health care disputes.

Mediate.com: A Reality Check (10/17/11)
Steffi Berkowitz
You are about to read an atypical article/testimony honoring two October celebrations.   In truth, both are dedicated to raising awareness, promoting education and helping people understand options on a journey they did not seek. In truth, both provide a respite for determining outcomes by building knowledge and support irrespective of heart-rendering tales and underlying stories.

"New Insight into Impulse Control" (9/06/11)
Stephanie West Allen
How the brain controls impulsive behavior may be significantly different than psychologists have thought for the last 40 years.

Mediation Helps Reduce Med Mal Litigation (9/06/11)
Keith Seat

The number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania declined for the sixth year in a row, with attorneys attributing the decrease to private mediation, among other changes. The current number of med mal lawsuits is now only about half the peak in 2002.

Beaumont Enterprise.com (May 22, 2011)

Negotiating Life’s End on Medi-Cal: Second in the Series (7/11/11)
Victoria Pynchon
All I knew in the wake of Cedars-Sinai’s message was that Joel had likely been hospitalized for at least two of the days I’d been on vacation and off-grid.

Another Fun Technique for Cross-Examining Defense Medical Experts (7/11/11)
John Bratt

The Amygdala is the Fear Center? (5/09/11)
Stephanie West Allen

The Measure of Damages for Past Medical Expenses (5/02/11)
Robert Tessier
In Cabrera v. E. Rojas Properties, Inc., the Second District Court of Appeal provides insight into the question of the proper measure of damages for past medical expenses paid by private insurance.

We Are Looking for One Good Town (4/25/11)
Michael A. Zeytoonian

Conflict Engagement in Healthcare (4/03/11)
Holly Hayes
Karl Bayer and I taught a three-hour course at the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) national meeting in Chicago last week. Our topic: Introducing Conflict Resolution Skills in Health Care.

California Supreme Court Allows Use of Mediation Confidentiality as Shield to Avoid Legal Malpractice Claims (3/21/11)
Keith Seat

Continuing its strict interpretation of California’s broad mediation confidentiality statute, the California Supreme Court rejected the appellate court’s creation of a judicial exception, and prevented a party from using his private communications with his attorneys before and during a mediation in a later action for legal malpractice. The alleged malpractice involved claims that the party’s counsel had conflicts of interest and coerced him to settle for too little. Although private conversations during the mediation between the party and his attorneys did not involve the mediator or other party (or reveal anything said or done in mediation discussions with the mediator or other party), the Court relied on the plain language of the statue to conclude they were confidential nonetheless and that any exception must come from the legislature. The confidentiality statute only applies to civil actions, however, so would not protect an attorney from use of mediation-related oral communications in a criminal prosecution for fraud.

Cassel v. Superior Court, No. S178914 (Cal., January 13, 2011).

Collaboration Needed To Improve Health Care Delivery System (2/21/11)
Holly Hayes
According to an American Hospital Association (AHA) News report, Don Berwick, M.D., Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, testified on February 10, 2011, at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the impact the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will have on Medicare.

Conflict In The Healthcare Arena: What Physicians Can Do About It (1/31/11)
Ellen Kandell
Do you and your partners frequently have difficulty working through strategic planning issues? Is there internal strife between your office manager and the lead nurse? Is the hospital committee you serve on a source of confusion and ambiguity rather than a source of professional pride?

Malpractice Mediation Beneficial, Even If Physicians Don’t Attend (12/20/10)
Steve Mehta
Having litigated many medical malpractice cases and as a mediator of those same cases, I have come across many arguments regarding the efficacy of mediation in the medical malpractice context. Many argue that unless all discovery has been completed, mediation is ineffective. Others say that mediation is effective from the very beginning. Yet others offer blame for failed mediations from a partisan perspective. Regardless of the view of mediation in malpractice cases, it is clear that mediation has become a preferred tool for resolving these type of disputes. Recently, A study of mediation in medical malpractice cases found that mediation is beneficial according to the participants but that a key missing ingredient, however, is the doctors themselves.