Narrow v. Broad Problem Definition

by Leonard Riskin
May 2010

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Leonard Riskin explains narrow and broad problem definitions by a giving an example of settling a case where there was a breech of a business contract. A narrow problem definition sees a legal process whereas a broad problem definition allows more room for thinking about other causes of the conflict.

Biography

Leonard L. Riskin is Chesterfield Smith Professor of Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He previously served at the University of Missouri as Director of the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution and Professor of Law. He has taught both dispute resolution and mindfulness around the world. Professor Riskin has a J.D. from New York University School of Law and an LL.M. from Yale Law School. He has worked as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice and as General Counsel of the National Alliance of Businessmen in Washington, D.C. A practicing mediator, he also has published several books (including the co-authored Dispute Resolution and Lawyers (Westgroup 4th ed. 2009)) and numerous articles on dispute resolution (in some of which he developed the “grids” of mediator orientations—facilitative-evaluative/broad-narrow), several articles on the potential contributions of mindfulness to law and mediation practice, and personal essays in popular publications, such as the New York Times Magazine and the Atlantic monthly. He has won CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution Awards for his writing and for his work to integrate dispute resolution into law school curricula.

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