Mediators in Minnesota celebrated Conflict Resolution Day (October 16 this year) with a Conflict Resolution Week Flash Mob. This joyful demonstration of conflict resolution of mediators features synchronized dancing, the Beatles song “We Can Work it Out”, and people performing a transition from conflict to resolution. I have been a mediator and facilitator for a […]
Zampano Award for Excellence in Mediation
I am honored and humbled to be receiving The Honorable Robert C. Zampano Award for Excellence in Mediation, named for the late United States District Court Judge Robert C. Zampano, a pioneer in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. The award will be presented at a reception in New Haven on June 12 by Community Mediation, […]
Sperner’s lemma and the challenge of dividing prized possessions
Yesterday’s New York Times included an article in the Science Times titled “To Divide the Rent, Start With a Triangle” by Albert Sun. He described how Sperner’s lemma could be used for a procedure for fair division of rent in an apartment with three bedrooms of different sizes and other features. Dr. Francis Su had […]
“Ethical Issues in Mediation” CLE seminar on April 8
I was happy to agree to a request to put together a panel for a CLE seminar on mediation ethics, which may be of particular interest to attorneys in Connecticut who need New York State CLE credits (especially ethics credits.) Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can provide more […]
“Why every attorney should consider ADR” — my article published in the Conn. Law Tribune
On February 26, 2014, the Connecticut Law Tribune published my article, “Why every attorney should consider ADR.” As I hope the title suggests, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is an option that every attorney should consider — not just those in specific practice areas where mediation and arbitration have been common for some time. Sometimes, clients […]
Are family wealth conflicts caused by evolution?
You might not think, at first glance, that evolution would have anything at all to do with family wealth conflicts. Granted, my perspective isn’t universal, but an October 13, 2013 article in the New York Times suggests that it does. The article, “Evolution and Bad Boyfriends”, written by Piet van den Berg and Tim W. […]
NE-ACR’s Fall Program with Erica Fox
On October 21, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., NE-ACR will present its fall program in collaboration with Harvard’s Program on Negotiation. Erica Fox, President of Mobius Executive Leadership and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School will discuss her new book “Winning From Within: A Breakthrough Method of Leading, Living, and Lasting Change”. More information […]
Mediator “self care”
On April 29, the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution held its annual meeting in Wellesley, MA and presented a program by Emily Gould of Empatia Resolutions, in Montpelier, VT. The annual meeting was brief, and at that time I ended my term as president and began a one-year term as secretary. […]
“Getting to Yes or Getting to No Quickly”
Several weeks ago, Connecticut Gov. Malloy was quoted as using the phrase “Getting to Yes or Getting to No Quickly.” He was applying this idea to the state’s foreclosure mediation program. Gov. Malloy was talking about the value of having consistent participants in each case, instead of a rotating cast of representatives of banks who […]
Negotiation, cliffs, and social capital
Ten days ago, after a short-term solution to the “fiscal cliff” was announced, the New York Times ran an article by James B. Stewart titled “In Budget Talks, Getting to ‘Yes’”. Stewart had interviewed various academic experts on the negotiation approaches that the Republicans and Democrats had been employing. Suffice it to say that the […]