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The Christmas Skates

The Christmas Skates

No mediation stats this month, just a sweet and true Christmas story. Perryville, Missouri was a small town in rural southeast Missouri, and back in 1970 the Interstate highway that now links Perryville to the Big City, was incomplete.  Like many small towns...

Mediator
Deepak Chopra, Mediator 

Deepak Chopra, Mediator 

Deepak Chopra, author and spiritual advisor, is also a mediator—who knew!?   He has been called in to help with quarrels between national leaders and recently gave an interview to the New York Times laying out nine steps to help resolve disagreements. Love it! ...

ZOOM Mullets

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...

This Too Will End

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

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

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...

Med-Arb Baseball Style

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...

MED-ARB

MED-ARB

Med-Arb!  The worst nickname ever … or maybe the best nickname ever because it quickly informs the reader of the basic concept.  Never fear, I have completed numerous med-arbs (one of the few mediators who actually has) and there are good reasons to...

EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATIO

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

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...

New Years Resolutions

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...