More businesses, schools, and governments have begun to adopt a conciliatory policy when evaluating and creating their conflict resolution processes. Yet many people that follow and interact with these processes do not fully understand the term conciliatory and how it affects the dispute resolution process. For some people, a conciliatory process may feel fresh and …
Almost 45% of US divorces involve children. Child custody and visitation are highly emotional issues that will deeply affect the family, including its physical, mental, and emotional well-being and the strength of its relationships. Despite the importance of the questions decided in family court, seventy to seventy-five percent of California cases involve parties without lawyers. …
Using collaborative law in dispute resolution, especially in family law, helps parties find solutions that meet their needs and the needs of the other parties. Collaborative law, also known as collaborative practice, is a practice of law that shifts from an adversarial mindset to a collaborative mindset. It is most commonly practiced in family law …
In the early stages of a case, the parties may find out that they are required to attend a meeting called a case management conference. A case management conference is the first step in moving the case forward and gives the judge and the parties the chance to see what the case is about and …
What are the 5 stages of mediation? Let’s take a look. Jim and John had been successful design partners for six years. The business had grown from the two of them to twelve engineers. Now Jim wanted to accept an acquisition offer, but John wanted to expand while they could buy new buildings cheaply. If …
Mediation is a common and growing alternative to litigation in the business community and in the courts. Users choose it for a variety of reasons: it’s confidential, non-binding, less time consuming than litigation, less costly, provides parties with greater control over their own destiny, and greater process satisfaction. Nearly half of survey respondents cited confidentiality …
By Scott B. Garner, Shawn M. Kennedy A. Introduction Any lawyer who has taken a case to mediation knows – at least in some vague, general way – that settlement discussions occurring during the mediation enjoy some level of confidentiality protection. Mediators themselves, of course, may have some greater understanding of what is and is …
Successful negotiations (aka mediations) require sound strategies. Today we present 10 recommended steps for developing productive mediation strategy to resolve any seemingly intractable conflict between parties.
Article Clarifications: 1. A guideline or checklist of topic points was developed to cover a typical start-to-finish opening statement scenario. Those topic bullet points are designated in bold print but are not meant to be spoken. 2. Italic text enclosed in parentheses explains the mediator’s objective. 3. Bold text enclosed in parentheses are technical tips …
Occasionally, a court will recommend an early neutral evaluation shortly after a case has been filed. Courts will usually recommend this when they believe an evaluation may help the parties accurately see their positions compared to the other party’s and potentially think about a settlement. Sometimes, a court will recommend the case to early …