A Million – or Five

Two of my granddaughters are sisters. One is 6 and the other is 3 years old. They recently had the following interchange: 6 year old: “How many pecans do you want?” 3 year old: “Like, a million.” 6 year old: “I can give you five.” 3 year old: “OK.” Classic sibling...

And If You Can’t Pay?

Binding Arbitration: Yes or No? You’ll never have a runaway jury with an arbitration. But you’ll also be hard-pressed to get appellate review of a skewed arbitration award. In most cases there’s no clear-cut formula for determining whether trial or arbitration will...

Five Kinds of Cases

When it comes to mediated settlements, there are five kinds of cases: Cases that are going to settle Cases that won’t settle at mediation, period Cases that could settle but don’t because of incomplete preparation Cases that will settle following typical settlement...

A Deliberate Brief

Here’s a bit of feedback from one who reads briefs for a living. Before you begin writing, take a moment and reflect on the purpose of your brief. Important threshold questions might include the following: – Who is my audience? – What does my audience...

Where Are You?

I’ve conducted a lot of negotiations. I was a litigator for more than 30 years. I’ve negotiated a lot of business transactions. Since 2016 I’ve worked as a neutral. I’ve mediated many cases – first as a lawyer and then as a mediator. During this time I’ve...

What’s It All About?

After becoming a mediator in 2015, I attended the annual meeting of the ADR section of one of the local county Bar Associations. The keynote speaker said something that instantly got my attention. During the course of their remarks the speaker asserted that there are...