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Welcome to my Mediation Blog. Thank you for taking a look. I hope you find something here worthwhile or useful.
Shel Stark participates in the ADR Section Mediator Forum
Categories: Uncategorized
On February 24, Shel Stark was one of the leaders and facilitators for the ADR Section’s 2022 Spring Mediator Forum, where mediators learn from mediators. The 2-hour program, sponsored by the AD…
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Negotiation 101: What Parties Should Know about Negotiations at the Mediation Table
Categories: Practice Tips
INTRODUCTION For many, especially those new to the process of settling legal disputes, negotiations across the mediation table are like nothing the parties have ever experienced before. The purpose of…
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The Case for Embracing Diversity and Inclusion In Our Profession
Categories: This & That
We are in the midst of a global pandemic, hunkered down at home trying to be healthy and safe. With executive, stay-at-home orders in place, we have – at last – time for reflection, to wal…
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“Are You Kidding Me!?”: Bringing Humor to the Mediation Process
Categories: Uncategorized
“We do not take humor seriously enough.” Konrad Lorenz Introduction: Mediation is a serious process where serious conflicts are seriously addressed by serious people. Whether the process results i…
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PREPARING FOR YOUR FIRST MEDIATION: A Step-by-Step Checklist for Advocates
Categories: Practice Tips
Review the file from top to bottom Mediation is likely to be the closest your client gets to having their day in court. Consider preparation for it as the moral and functional equivalent of preparing…
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Why Mediators Should Never Say "Never"
Categories: Practice Tips
“Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never….” Winston Churchill. Quoted in Churchill and Orwell, the Fight for Freedom by Thomas E. Ricks, Penguin Press 2017 If the parties to…
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What "The Blind Men and the Elephant" Can Teach Us About Perspective at the Mediation Table
Categories: Practice Tips
Frequently, disputes arise out of the different perspectives of the parties. Parties may observe the same facts but their perceptions of what happened and why may turn on where they stood, what role t…
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The Vanishing American Trial and Its Implications
Categories: This & That
For many years ADR, alternative dispute resolution, meant arbitration. Arbitration was thought to be a quick and inexpensive private and confidential alternative to the traditional jury trial. Over ti…
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Book Review: Opinions—Essays on Lawyering, Litigation and Arbitration, the Placebo Effect, Chutzpah, and Related Matters
Categories: Reviews
“To be good is noble, but to teach others how to be good is nobler—and less trouble.” Mark Twain (1906) So begins this wonderful collection of essays by two of our funniest, most thoughtful, lea…
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BOOK REVIEW: "Opinions—Essays on Lawyering, Litigation and Arbitration, the Placebo Effect, Chutzpah, and Related Matters"
Categories: Reviews
“To be good is noble, but to teach others how to be good is nobler—and less trouble.” Mark Twain (1906) So begins this wonderful collection of essays by two of our funniest, most thoughtful, lea…
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