Mediation Disguised In The Dispute Process For Public Works In Qatar
Chandana Jayalath 07/06/2009
Parties prefer a mechanism that does not call the employer as their ‘disputant’ may be because the employer is everybody’s paymaster or the potential source of future jobs. Parties also appreciate speedy, flexible and fair outcomes, rather than too formal procedures that are time and money consuming. Consequently, parties have realized the importance of solving their conflicts of opinion, both commercial and contractual, at the ‘employer’s level internally. This is where in-house settlement comes into play in the context of public works in Qatar.

Snarling, Screaming Or Sobbing At Work? You’re Not alone!
Lynne Eisaguirre 05/25/2009
Everyone’s upset at work theses days it seems. If you haven’t lost your job, your spouse has and you may fear you’ll be next. Even if you’re a secure manager, you may be tossing and turning at night over the next round of layoffs you have to implement.

Why Bullying Doesn't Work In Mediation
Nancy Hudgins 04/27/2009
Ever been bullied? How did you react? I’ve always reacted to bullying by digging in my heels. I don’t think I’m alone in this. Does this strategy sound like it will settle a case? I wonder, then, why so many lawyers resort to bullying in mediation?

Cloaked Negotiation: Necessary Back-Channel, Under the Table and Surreptitious Strategies and Techniques to Make Deals Work
Robert Benjamin 01/19/2009
Cloaked and surreptitious negotiation strategies are commonly used but seldom openly discussed by conflict management practitioners. This, after all, is the shadow side of negotiation that goes against the grain of the more preferred. view of negotiation as a straightforward, ethically clean and rational enterprise, This article suggests the necessity and importance of those strategies in order to make deals work in the real world.

Why Mediation Often Works When Lawyers Haven’t Been Able To Settle
Richard Barron 12/14/2008
Too often attorney settlement discussions are merely a short exchange after depositions, vaguely inquiring about whether the other party is ready to throw in the towel. And when more serious settlement discussions are held, they’re often attempts by one lawyer to see if the other lawyer is willing to modify their “best case scenario” position with obligating the inquiring lawyer to any corresponding concession.

Why Mediate at All? Can't We Just Work It Out?
John DeGroote 11/24/2008
If you haven’t heard the old-school pitch, you will someday soon: “I remember when lawyers actually talked to each other. We don’t need to mediate this case; if it can be settled, you and I can work it out the way good lawyers used to.“

Bullies At Work
Bill Eddy 10/14/2008
Workplace bullying is a growing international problem. It is more than a one-time incident. It is a pattern of behavior between a bully and another worker which can demoralize, isolate and trigger illness in the target of the bully.

Rule 68 and Offers of Judgment, Part I: How They Work and Why You Should Care
John DeGroote 09/30/2008
I once had a client tell me: “I’m in the outsourcing business, not the litigation business.” He would probably read the title to this post and say something like: “I’m a client. Why do I care about rule anything?” Whether you are a client or a lawyer involved in US litigation, Rule 68 and similar state rules are important to you for two reasons: they can get cases resolved when nothing else can, and few lawyers use them effectively.

New Riverside Superior Court Mediation Program to Pay Mediators for their Work
Victoria Pynchon 08/24/2008
From today's Los Angeles Daily Journal   JAMMED RIVERSIDE COURT WILL COMPEL MEDIATION By Greg Katz RIVERSIDE - The first thing Riverside County Superior Court Judge Michael B. Donner told a courtroom packed with trial-ready lawyers on a recent Monday was good morning. Soon after, he added: "I will tell you, I have no open courtrooms for trial, as I did last Monday." Such is the weekly ritual in Riverside's civil courts, where justice is routinely delayed in the...

Business Mediation:A Better Way To Resolve Workplace Conflict
Marta J. Papa 08/11/2008
In a situation where there is no process for eliminating conflict other than litigation, resentments build up and productivity plummets. Currently, we are seeing a trend toward solving conflict in the workplace through mediation rather than litigation or other more traditional methods of dispute resolution.

A Works Progress Administration Act for Mediators?
Victoria Pynchon 07/15/2008
California mediators, listen up!  Your legislature is working for you (and for the AAA).    Thanks to the Institue for Conflict Management Blog (h/t to Diane Levin) for hipping us to Senate Bill 1642 requiring public entities to mediate  3rd-party claims relating to a public works contract if the claimant demands that mediation be pursued.  The guts of the proposal below: In the event there is any portion of a claim that remains unresolved, ...

Congratulations to CUNY's 'Make Talk Work' Video Competition Winners!
Nancy Hudgins 06/23/2008
The City University of New York's Dispute Resolution Consortium has decided upon the 10 winners of its Make Talk Work International Video 2008 competition. The videos have been posted to You Tube and you can find all ten of them here. (When you get there, scroll down the list to the right and click on the videos.)If you have ten minutes, it's lots of fun. The videos are 60 seconds each.To see two dozen bookmarks from CUNY's Make Talk Work bookmark project, click here.Kudos to the JAMS...

Winners of the Make Talk Work International Video Competition
Geoff Sharp 06/17/2008
View the winning videos (funded by JAMS) on the City University of New York Dispute Resolution Consortium website here (they seem slow to load)

Consensus Building Tips from Work Life Bridge
Victoria Pynchon 04/14/2008
Thanks to WorkLifeBridge for including us on its resource page.  We're happpy to reciprocate and pleased to find another good source of information on collaboration, dispute resolution, and making life and work better for everyone.  In their post Creepy Crawly Consensus, the authors of WorkLifeBridge direct their readers to some good consensus building resources.  See below for their recommendations and click here for the full post.  Here are some resources and ideas to ...

Simplicity Works
Roger D. Hartstone 04/07/2008
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.