Featured Legal Blog Posts
Research Shows How Changing the Narrative Can Open the Door to Conflict Resolution
This article explores how the glorification of our ingroup (those whom we share identity with) contributes to conflict.
Virtual Mediation Can and Must Be Done Right
Use these strategies to avoid pitfalls and make the most out of virtual mediation. Especially during Covid-19, virtual mediation can and must be facilitated with excellence.
Good Faith in Mediation
Both parties must enter a mediation with good faith, meaning that the parties have the sincere intention of trying to find a resolution in the dispute.
Need for Clear Language Initiative to un-Babel Our Models
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. We use rotten language to describe our ideas and theories.
Bedrooms, Bookcases, or Beaches: Choosing and Organizing Your Background with Purpose
Today’s post explores how best to present yourself in a virtual mediation.
Asynchronous Instruction in this Year of Living Dangerously
Probably every student and instructor has had difficult challenges this year accommodating to the routines needed because of the pandemic.
Talking It Out- The Problem With, And In Rural Areas
It is a duty, I believe, on the part of those who belong to the legal fraternity, to do the needful to disseminate the same by participating and organizing legal awareness drives, so that in the long run, the scope of alternate dispute resolution not only looks good in the black and white text, but also as being applied and implemented in its practical sense to reduce the load on our already over-loaded judiciary, and also to aid in the speedy settlement of disputes and better the access to justice.
Impact of Couple Conflict and Mediation on How Romantic Partners are Seen: An fMRI study
This article illustrates that mediation improves conflict resolution and is associated with increased activity in the nucleus accumbens, a key region in the brain's reward circuitry.
Do You Have to be a Lawyer to Draft a Separation Agreement?
Do you have to be an attorney to be a divorce mediator? The short answer is no. The long answer is important to unpack though.
Breaking Up Doesn’t Have to Mean Going Broke
Why an uncontested divorce makes sense for high net worth couples.
The Importance of Accurately Attributing Gains on Separate Property in Divorce
Let’s take a simple example to show why a back of the envelope calculation could provide a completely inaccurate picture of the value of the marital vs separate portions of a joint account.
Employee Contracts Are Becoming Complicated Amid COVID-19
Employee contracts, which were rarely straightforward before the pandemic, are particularly complicated now.
How is Your Attitude? It makes a difference!
There is a saying among mediators: often at the start of a mediation, the mediator is the only optimistic person in the room. She is the only one who believes the matter will settle.
Mediator’s Thoughts for Parents During the Pandemic
Divorce or separation is a big challenge in itself.
From Eye-Rolls to Grimaces: Understanding Body Language in Virtual Mediations
Today’s post explores the role of body language in virtual or remote mediations, where mediators see participants in a box and on a screen as opposed to in a chair and in person.
The Enugu State Multi-Door Courthouse (ESMDC)
The journey taken by the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse (LMDC) from when it first started till now is a clear indication that there is a buy-in from all stakeholders and disputants that ADR through the LMDC works because of its success story -with access to justice as some literature has revealed.
Navigating the Listening in Mediation
“When there is a patient listener, the speaker starts listening to the speaker within the speaker.”
If a Crime is Admitted, What Then?
If a person during a caucus session tells the mediator that he committed a crime which had nothing to do with the case in mediation, what does the mediator do?
Change Power is in the Process: When Listening is Not Enough
Since the untimely and senseless killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, the response from many organizations, places of work, and corporations have been to hold listening sessions specifically for African Americans to “share their story” with their peers.
Online Dispute Resolution: You Can Do This!
Aspects of ODR have been with us in one form another for decades.
Use Mediators and Police as Conflict Resolution Partners
In recent efforts to improve law enforcement’s role in serving our communities, a major issue is whether police departments can be assisted or replaced by professionals better suited to handling citizen calls on some issues.
BATNA’S Got to Go
In a recent DRLE listserv colloquy, I threatened to save for another day an extended rant about why we are so doggone attracted to using confusing jargon. That day has arrived.
Kristen Blankley: New Opportunities for Pro Bono in a Pandemic
COVID-19 has created additional need for legal services in many areas, including housing, consumer law, employment law, probate, family law, domestic violence advocacy, criminal law, among others.