Emily Holland 
When creating a contract, few people imagine that they will need to use the frustration of purpose to stop performing under the contract. However, no one can foresee how things will happen as the contract moves on, and events can render the contract useless to its purpose. Contracts are agreements between two or more parties …
When trying to bring a relative to the United States, they may face inadmissibility and need to consider a hardship waiver to rectify the issue. A hardship waiver allows a relative that would typically be inadmissible to enter the United States because of the extreme hardship that the relative will face if they remain abroad. …
Requiring parties to participate in mediation before a lawsuit is becoming more common, but it has many parties questioning if mediation is mandatory and what the implication of making it mandatory is doing to the mediation process. Mediation was created as an alternative process to litigation to help the parties attempt to resolve their disputes …
When negotiating, the parties must find the zone of possible agreement or the ZOPA. Finding this zone will not only help the parties identify a way to agree with one another, but it will also help frame the negotiation to ensure that it can be completed. When the parties can identify the ZOPA, they can …
When we find ourselves in the midst of a dispute that requires a greater exposure to the legal system, the system can feel unfamiliar and overwhelming. This is where attorneys will often step in to fill the gap.
…Continued from Part 2: In previous articles, we’ve discussed what a BATNA and a WATNA are, the purpose of identifying a BATNA and WATNA, some possible alternatives to consider, and two analyses that parties can use to identify their BATNA and WATNA. This article will discuss the strategies that a mediator may use to help …
…Continued from Part 1: Back to discovering and using what the negotiation world calls a BATNA and WATNA, this article will continue to move through an analysis to help the parties discover the alternatives that will drive how they negotiate and settle a dispute. The previous article discussed the importance of moving through a BATNA/WATNA …
In the first of this pair of articles, we discussed the definition of a power imbalance, identified the types of power that may be utilized against another party, and the early signs of a power imbalance. Once a neutral identifies that one of the parties has more power than the other and is using their power to make the negotiations end in their favor, it is important for the neutral to act quickly to attempt to bring the power in the negotiations into balance between the parties.
Settlement conferences, mediations, and negotiations are often a great opportunity for a case. The parties can share their wishes and can create a solution to the problem that will not be available if a judge or jury decides the issue. When the parties are cooperating, negotiation may be incredibly productive and save the case from …
Divorce is accompanied by a myriad of emotions, big and small. While each divorce stirs up different emotions depending on the individual situation, there are some similarities in the stages that people will go through as a divorce is approaching and carried through. These emotions are often broken up into six stages—disillusionment, dissatisfaction, decision, initiation, …