They Say It’s about Dollars, but It’s Often about Emotion: How to Use Mediation to Restore Business Judgment to Business Disputes

Business executives are supposed to be creatures of logic, carefully weighing costs and benefits. Yet some mediations fail even when there are several sensible alternatives, any of which would offer the disputants as good or a better a result than each of them would expect from other likely outcomes of the dispute. Puzzling as their behavior may seem, business partners may sometimes reject settling a dispute, preferring instead to have a litigated result imposed upon them by a third party such as a Judge, Jury or Arbitrator. There are four common reasons for this seemingly illogical behavior. Each reason relates to very recognizable human emotions and perceptions.

Making Effective Use of Alternative Dispute Resolution for Small Businesses
Robert Tessier
Most business owners are small business owners, competing in an increasingly intense and flattening global environment. This article discusses how you can maximize your small business efficiency and profitability through the effective use of alternative dispute resolution.

Getting More for the Plaintiff in Mediation: Showcase Your Stellar Client

While I agree that negotiating with insurers in mediation is challenging, I disagree with the conclusion that plaintiffs’ lawyers are powerless. Throughout a thousand-plus mediations, I have become a practiced observer of what works. Assuming the case is reasonably strong, the opportunity to showcase a stellar plaintiff presents the plaintiffs’ lawyer with the most significant opportunity to influence the insurance company favorably.

Winning at Construction Mediation
Gary Morgerman
No matter the route taken, if a party finds itself involved in a mediation, it should mediate to win. Yes, win! Mediation purists may be taken back by the suggestion that one side or the other should try to win an encounter that is not supposed to be a contest.

Construction Mediation Really Works
Gary Morgerman
The use of mediation to resolve disputes between members of the construction community is finally taking hold in the industry as word of its effectiveness, efficiency and economy spreads. Following is the story of a construction mediation mediated by Construction Mediation Inc in New York City.

Can You Prevent Claims and Lawsuits on Your Construction Project?
Ron Kelly
Why do so many custom construction projects end up in fights? The following trio of articles is aimed at the three main players in custom construction. Owners, contractors and architects each have different and valid perspectives.

Using Mediation to Resolve Partnership Disputes
John Gromala
This article addresses how mediation can be used to prevent disputes among owners of small businesses, professional groups and among members of management teams.

Mediation during Business Formation or Reorganization
John Gromala, David Gage, Dawn Martin
What partners often leave unsaid: By creating a written charter, partners clarify what they expect of each other and how to operate together. Before they run into trouble.

Mediating Wrongful Death Cases
Joe Epstein
Wrongful death cases require parties to deal with raw emotions. It is our view that counsel, adjusters, risk managers, and mediators must all be informed not only about the facts of a wrongful death case but also about the special issues survivors deal with in their bereavement.

Mediating Legal Malpractice Cases

At the end of a long day you receive a phone call from someone you know at the clerk’s office who just heard that you have been named as a defendant in a legal malpractice case. Is this your worst nightmare? Not yet, but it can be if you allow the matter to fester through discovery on its way to a late-developing settlement or unnecessary trial. Alternatively, it can be nipped in the bud through an early and effective mediation which works to the maximum benefit of all concerned.

Resolving Family Business Conflicts
Douglas Noll
In this article, I want to share a story about a family business conflict. This is not based on any real family business, but is so common, it could be.

Commercial Mediation–“We Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”
Richard Weiler
Increasingly the workhorse of commercial dispute resolution, the untapped value of the mediation process is bounded only by the imagination of mediators, users and regulators. A principled collaborative dialogue among these three groups is also an essential element in realizing the potential of commercial mediation.

Fundamentals of Conflict for Business Organizations
Lawrence Kahn
Successful organizations generally deal with conflict in a positive, proactive manner. Superior conflict management skills can develop into a core competence, enabling organizations to gain a continuing competitive advantage in its industry.

Mediation Brings Doctors, Patients Face to Face
American News Service
Malpractice lawsuits have been around as long as there have been doctors and lawyers. But there may be a better way to resolve doctor-patient conflicts.

Talking It Out Is the Path of Peace
Douglas Noll
Our natural inclination is to reduce the anxiety and eliminate the fear by separating the parties in conflict. If they don’t talk to each other, the conflict seems to go away. Of course, we all know that the conflict does not go away, but usually gets worse. Asking parties to “forgive and forget” or avoid the dispute simply pushes it under the surface. It will erupt somewhere else.