Featured Blogs Section
Featured Blog Posts
Preparing and Paying for QDROs in Divorce
The responsibilities of a plan administrator include reviewing QDROs or DROs and then distributing the funds to the non-plan participant spouse once they have approved the order--which become difficult in a separation.
Conflict in the Workplace – Mediation Can Make Your Team More Efficient
Conflict in the workplace is inevitable when people with different values and opinions come together.
Don’t Chalk My Tires, Or Why Mediation is Not Appropriate
This discussion exemplifies one of those very few circumstances in which mediation may not be appropriate because a public policy is at stake.
High-Tech Dispute Resolution
In this scholarly work, the authors examine the intersection of online dispute resolution and psychology.
Tips for Addressing Childhood Conflict
These are steps for teaching your children to reduce childhood conflict.
Yes and No are Powerful Words
Yes and No are powerful words. What impact does saying each of them have on your body and nervous system?
Mental Health First Aid Training May Make Our Community Happier and Healthier!
“Many people with mental illness are reluctant to seek help or know where to turn for care, while their friends and family members may struggle to know when and how to help,” said Dr. Rotenberg.
How Do You Define “Ethics?”
"For centuries, we have shared common expectations of how we behave ethically in society, based largely on a mutual understanding of the reality in which our decisions play out. These underlying expectations have come to be guided by three pillars."
How to Resolve a Dispute with Someone Who Doesn't Know Your Language
As the international business environment is quickly expanding, companies are merging and are therefore helping create a global workplace setting.
[Podcast] Where Does the Insurance Industry Sit Now on Racial Issues?
In a recent episode of Insurance Business Talk, JAMS neutral Rebekah Ratliff speaks with host Paul Lucas on her experience as a Black woman in the insurance industry and where the industry is now in terms of issues relating to gender and race.
Who Wears the Pants in Your Family?
So much has changed! When I was growing up, the expectation for middle-class marriages (which were always between women and men) was that it was the man’s job to earn enough money to support the family, and it was the woman’s job was to have children and to contribute to the economy by spending money.
To Solve a Problem at Work–Ask; Don’t Assume
When you ask and don’t assume you already know the answers, you’re likely to find better solutions to workplace problems.
Mediating (and Settling) Real Property Cases
Just as there are a myriad of real property interests, there can be disputes involving any of those interests.
Making Ethical Decisions
Despite the complexity of ethical issues, Ms. Liautaud has formula for making an ethical decision quite simple.
Vulnerability for the WIN!
Vulnerability as quoted from THE vulnerability researcher Brene Brown “is not winning or losing, it’s having the courage to show up even when you can’t control the outcome”.
When the World is Too Much, How to Release Overwhelm with Resonance
What happens in our brains and bodies when life -- and conflict -- feels like too much for us?
Should Tribunals Stand up to Employee ‘Hypersensitivity’?
Recent years have seen a strong tide towards protection of employee rights in employment tribunals, a heightened awareness of any form of discrimination, the damaging effects of throwaway remarks.
‘Understanding’ Mediator Gary Friedman on His Adventure in Politics
Earlier this month, Gary Friedman, co-founder of the Center for Understanding in Conflict, of Santa Rosa, Calif., conducted a video breakfast roundtable titled “Inside Out: Confessions of a Mediator in Politics.”
Teaching Students to Think Like Practitioners
People often say that dispute resolution processes aren’t “one size fits all.”
[PODCAST] JAMS Foundation & Hands of Peace: Empowering American, Israeli & Palestinian Youth to Be Peacemakers, Agents of Change
A podcast from JAMS featuring David Brandon of The JAMS Foundation and Gretchen Grad and Scott Rasmussen of Hands of Peace, discussing Hands of Peace’s work empowering American, Israeli and Palestinian youth to be agents of change in their communities.
The Role of Law in Legal Disputes
Law school teaches students that law is a seamless web of rules emanating from authorities like statutes and cases which they must memorize and finely parse in hypothetical cases.
The Significance of Nonverbal Communication in Mediation and Arbitration
Nonverbal communication may impact participants’ thoughts and emotions in a mediation or arbitration and should be considered when evaluating communication feedback during these sessions.
The Creative, Collaborative Use of Neutral Experts in Environmental Mediations
Most disputes in litigation involve a procedural phase for the preparation and exchange of expert reports and the interrogation of the experts’ opinions.
Mediation Advocacy: A must for law students in India
“Advocacy is a conscious act of support, expressed by speaking or writing on behalf of another person, an idea, a cause or a policy.”
3 Ways Parents Can Help Their Kids Adjust
As parents, we try to protect our kids from undue stress. But the reality is that life is inherently stressful. While we may not be able to protect our kids from all stress we can help them learn to cope and adjust.
Why Mediators Need to Stop and Think Hard about Facilitating NDAs in Settlement Agreements
. . . An agreement seems to be emerging, to the relief of the plaintiff whose human rights complaint against the defendant employer has been dragging on for months. . .
The Five Divorces
Lonnie and Chris got married right out of college.¹ They had a lot of ups and downs, and over time, they grew apart. After 20 years, they decided to divorce.
[PODCAST] JAMS Neutrals Discuss the Use of Mediation in Bankruptcy Cases
A podcast from JAMS featuring Hon. Joan N. Feeney (Ret.) and Hon Phillip J. Shefferly (Ret.) discussing the intersection of ADR and bankruptcy disputes, drawing on their experience as retired bankruptcy judges and mediators
A Tale of Two Negotiators
When President Trump was in office, I wrote a series of posts about his negotiation habits based on contemporary news accounts.
Vividness Bias: Real or Illusory?
Harvard’s PONS defined vividness bias as “…the tendency to overweight the vivid and prestigious attributes of a decision, such as a salary or an employer’s status, and underweight less impressive issues, such as location or rapport with colleagues.”
Bring More Peace Into Your Life with Jeremy Pollack – Tip 22: Manage Your Emotions
This is an extremely important topic to consider when thinking about how to effectively engage in conflict resolution, especially when dealing with escalated situations. When considering how to engage in emotional self-regulation, it is crucial to first recognize our triggers. Asking ourselves, “What kinds of situations tend to trigger me?” is one way of doing this.
UNCITRAL Completes a New Mediation Framework, Based on the Singapore Convention
Earlier this month, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law adopted the UNCITRAL Mediation Rules, the UNCITRAL Notes on Mediation, and the Guide to Enactment and Use of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Mediation and International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation.
Use This Tool to Talk About COVID19
With COVID19 cases rocketing once again, old questions return. We are all inescapably affected by the behaviors of others on this so we have to work out the answers with other people around us.
Fight, Flight, or Freeze....Conflict Responses are Very Personal
How do you respond to conflict? It is very personal, and is based on millions of experiences that have shaped each person.