by The Center | Aug 29, 2012 | Blog
Appreciate and support the importance of the lawyers protecting their clients. The way mediators see lawyers is often a self fulfilling prophecy. Instead of seeing the lawyers as a problem to begrudgingly deal with or work around, view the lawyers as an important part...
by The Center | Aug 29, 2012 | Blog
We keep hearing from mediators that they would like to have everyone meet in the same room, but the lawyers don’t want to. There are compelling advantages for the lawyers, the mediator and the parties to consider in deciding whether to meet jointly rather than...
by The Center | Jul 25, 2012 | Blog
When disputes are resolved in court, judges generally make a decision based on how the law applies to what happened between the parties – to past events. This keeps the dispute, and the parties in the dispute, generally oriented to the past. One reason mediation...
by The Center | Jul 25, 2012 | Blog
The positions that we take when we become mired in conflict easily and naturally become reified and take on a life of their own. We are “for this” and “against that,” and our adversary obviously (and we believe, malevolently) seeks the...
by The Center | Jul 25, 2012 | Featured
Fall 2013 Advanced Program on Contracting, Northern California This advanced training is available to those who have already participated in on our Mediation Intensive Training Programs, and focuses on contracting, the agreement to mediate. We will focus on the...
by The Center | Apr 12, 2012 | Blog
One of the most essential aspects of the Understanding Based Model is to provide an alternative to the coercive process of litigation, judicial decision making, and even other approaches to mediation which rely upon the power of coercion to help move people through...
by The Center | Mar 8, 2012 | Blog
To take on the deep challenge that conflict poses means confronting the role and power that “judgment” has in our lives. We say, “our” advisedly here. Because dispute resolution professionals are by no means immune from the grasp of judgment when dealing with...
by The Center | Mar 8, 2012 | Blog
In conflict, most people feel misunderstood, at least by their opposite. The traditional way of resolving differences is through efforts at persuasion rather than understanding. Even when one wins in court, he or she may feel vindicated but not necessarily...
by The Center | Mar 8, 2012 | Blog
This book focuses on how to find an authentic voice with which to have some of life’s most challenging conversations. Dr. Lerner focuses on a true expression of self in order to “maximize the chance of being heard” and keeping the connection open even in the face of...
by The Center | Mar 8, 2012 | Blog
Norman Quote – Most of us believe suffering is negative, difficult, and to be avoided at all costs. Suffering breaks our spirit and ruins our life. So rather than face the suffering we blame others or the world for the unfortunate things that have happened to us. ...