Blog
Early Neutral Evaluation
Early Neutral Evaluation is a process where a skilled neutral is engaged early on in a case where battles are waging or starting to wage but has not turned into a full-blown war, yet is clearly heading that direction. The War of the Roses is a 1989 film starring Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito and Kathleen Turner…
Top 5 Ways to Tank your Mediation
#5 Failing To Prepare Your Client For Mediation #4 Communicating A Monetary Demand For The First Time In A Late Brief #3 Submitting A Late Brief With Hundreds Of Pages Of Documents Attached #2 Seeking Monetary Damages With No Estimates, Invoices Or Reports #1 Act As If You Are Trying Your Case At Mediation Instead…
When A War of the Roses Breaks Out, Consider Early Neutral Evaluation
When War Breaks Out. The War of the Roses is a 1989 film starring Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito and Kathleen Turner that satirizes the herculean battle that erupts when a seemingly happy couple’s marriage begins to crumble. As the couple’s relationship devolves, material possessions become the center of an outrageous and bitter fight. In the…
Flying By The Seat Of Your Pants Isn’t A Strategy To Settle A Case
Why It’s Your Problem If Your Opposing Counsel Is Using This Tactic Anyone receiving this email from me generally isn’t in the category of the “attorney who flies by the seat of their pants.” However, we all have had opposing counsel who seem to make a living by doing this. I see these kinds of…
Impasses In Mediations Happen For All Kinds of Reasons
Impasses Happen For Good Reason. Impasses in mediation happen for all sorts of reasons. Two common reasons that I see are one, that people aren’t ready to mediate (either in spirit or in fact) or that two, the parties are under the impression that justice or a win in front of a trier of fact…
The Animalistic, Unreliable and Irrational Beast
Good Things and Good Riddance to 2020. Despite the dumpster fire that was 2020, it was encouraging to see so many people resolve their disputes through mediation in that year. There was a large influx of people using mediation as a tool to resolve disputes. There was also a lot of civility between the parties,…
The Dumpster Fire of 2020 Wasn’t All Bad
A party to a case I mediated at the end of 2020 said to me that I was one of those “glass half full, positive people.” I laughed out loud. Rarely have I been accused of that. More often than not, people say in a somewhat snarky tone “you’re from the East Coast, aren’t you.”…
LA DAILY JOURNAL
