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Michael Scott – Successful Mediator?
A comparison between The Office’s “Conflict Resolution” and real-life mediation. If you’ve ever watched “The Office,” you know Michael Scott as the hilarious but grossly incompetent and inappropriate manager of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company Scranton branch. From...
ZOOM Mullets
A young executive Vice president in the entertainment industry came clean that he wore the same shirt for ZOOM work calls for 70 consecutive days and NO ONE noticed. Granted it was a nice shirt—Brooks Brothers, black, red and white small plaid with a button-down...
KIM L. KIRN – Attorney, Mediator and Advocate
Get to know KIM L. KIRN, a full-time mediator and arbitrator located right here in St. Louis, who has dedicated over three decades to working in the legal system. What Do You What To Be When You Grow Up? Although she has spent her entire professional career in...
Virtual Mediation Technology Glitches
We are soooooooooo dependent upon our technology during this pandemic. Most of my communication with co-workers and attorney-colleagues is through email and text. Even phone calls with my smart phone (which sometimes seems too smart… like creepy smart) have become...
This Too Will End
What do winter and the Covid 19 pandemic have in common? They both seem like they will last forever. But we all know both will end, I promise. Here in St. Louis we can walk outside, using social distancing, and as I take full...
Mediating Home Disputes
Working from home presents some brand-new challenges: your spouse is with you 24-7; your kids are home and attending school online; and you cannot leave the confines of your home. So, this creates an opportunity to mediate some home-bound...
Same But Different
Virtual Mediation--Alternative Dispute Resolution has moved (kicking and screaming) into the virtual world. My firm has handled over a dozen virtual mediations and arbitrations in the past few weeks and here is what we have learned:-Virtual mediation can...
COFFEE WITH A SIDE OF KINDNESS
Starbucks holds a special place in my heart; I am a regular coffee drinker and by now my local store knows not only my name, but also my dog’s name. The other day I was in line ready to order and overheard the customer in front of me laughing about her...
Why New Years Resolutions And Mediations Fail
WHY NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS AND MEDIATIONS FAIL What is your New Year’s Resolution? Last January I started this blog and resolved to post at least monthly. I did it (well, except for December, which as a working Mom, is excusable—in fact, I...
Med-Arb Baseball Style
MED-ARB BASEBALL STYLE As a follow up to my last post on Med-Arb, I want to describe a new type of Med-Arb gaining popularity: Med-Arb Baseball Style. (Okay, I made up that name but it aptly describes this process.) In Major League...
WHY WE LIKE THINGS TO REMAIN THE SAME
Have you visited Disney World lately? I just returned from a family vacation to the Magic Kingdom and I had such a strong sense of pleasure wandering from one favorite attraction to the next. Flying with Peter Pan, floating on the boats of...
MEANINGFUL MEDIATIONS WITH PRO SE PARTIES
Can you mediate with pro se parties … meaningfully? 40% of State Court litigants are pro se. (“Pro se” means individuals or corporations who do not hire an attorney to represent them in the dispute) 20% of federal court litigants are pro...
Mediation scores a goal at the world cup
The US Women’s Soccer Team is fighting (and winning) two battles right now: in France they are running and kicking a soccer ball with the most elite female players from around the world*; and in federal court in LA they are suing the US Soccer Federation...
EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATIO
What is this? It has a nifty acronym (ENE) but what’s all the fuss? The attention is because the federal court in St. Louis is now using ENE in selected cases and, just as important, ENE really works. Here is the quick take: ENE provides...
Breaking Bread Together
BREAKING BREAD TOGETHER The fascinating psychology behind mediation has given us another insight. Sharing food from a common plate, sometimes called eating “family style” results in better and faster negotiations. Researchers...
How to Be Effective in Mediation-Podcast
You must listen to these podcasts!!! Attorneys Gary Burger and Debbie Champion record a podcast entitled "Lawyer v Lawyer" and recently I was a guest discussing how to be effective in mediation. There are three podcasts in total and I have included...
Slogging Through Mediation
My beloved hiking boots--I wore them hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and I treasure these boots and the trails we covered together. But they also symbolize what happens to all of us at a mediation. Many times mediation is a long, hard, uphill...
Mediation Process – What to Expect at Mediation
Watch this short video on the mediation process and what to expect.
New Years Resolutions
Here it is ... the dawn of 2019 and its time for a new year's resolution. Some past year resolutions I have kept and some have fallen by the wayside. This year I resolve to begin a blog, or a "blawg" (the cute name for law related blogs) I resolve to make it...