1 PerspectiveMay 12, 2011

Don Philbin and Doug Noll: Two More Reasons to Go to Malibu this June

Longtime readers know I’m a big fan of training programs at Pepperdine’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, but our friends in Malibu have just given us two more reasons to come back for the 24th Annual Summer Professional Skills Program in Dispute Resolution – Don Philbin and Douglas Noll.

You probably know Don as a mediator or through his work on adrtoolbox.com or his often-cited Harvard Negotiation Law Review article, and you likely know Doug from his numerous books, his mediation practice focusing on “difficult, complex, and intractable conflicts,” and his various works at lawyertopeacemaker.com – but what you may not know is that they have teamed up to teach a cutting-edge class at Pepperdine this summer to help mediators, lawyers and their clients achieve better settlements from the Monday after the training ends.

Preventing Bad Settlement Decisions and More

Philbin and Noll have agreed to cover several critical topics in the three-day course, most of which are neglected or underserved in mediation training – the title to their course is “Preventing Bad Settlement Decisions and Impasse Using More…

Categories: ADR, Education, Mediation, Negotiation

5 PerspectivesJune 7, 2010

Negotiating through Impasse: A Paper from the Archives

a .pdf copy of “Break that Impasse:  Practical Solutions to Eliminate Deadlock in Settlement Negotiations” is available here

Lately I have heard about impasse more often than normal — Marc Lanzkowsky posted 3 Settlement Techniques that Will Help Move a Case to Resolution on The Claims SPOT, which drove a great follow-on discussion about impasse among LinkedIn’s Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Group.  As the comments continued, I thought about how much we all try to avoid — or work through — impasse, and an old article of mine came to mind.  This is a quick post intended to reintroduce that article to the discussion.

Break that Impasse:  Practical Suggestions to Eliminate Deadlock

It seems like only yesterday, but in 2004 I co-presented  Break that Impasse: Practical Suggestions to Eliminate Deadlock in Settlement Negotiations to the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Annual Meeting in Chicago with an all-star group of copanelists, including Eric D. Green, Ross W. Stoddard, Melvin S. Merzon and Mark Tatelbaum.  The paper, available here, is more than a few years old and I wrote it before my mediation training (so all disclaimers apply), but “Break that Impasse” includes:

• 20+ pages of ideas about how to prevent and break impasse — written primarily from the client’s perspective;
• Over 100 footnotes to mediators, judges, lawyers, clients and others who contributed their ideas to the paper; and
• A sample mediator’s proposal form, supplied by copanelist Ross Stoddard.

Take a look at “Break that Impasse” the next time impasse approaches — I hope it helps.

Categories: ADR, Fundamentals, Mediation, Negotiation, Settlement, Tactics

3 PerspectivesJune 6, 2010

Risk Based Analysis: How Do You Make Your Next Move?

It’s  no secret I have been on a bit of a Decision Tree kick lately — I just spent two days in one of Marc Victor’s (fantastic) training sessions, and Settlement Perspectives’ series on this important topic continues to grow.  Today we’ll explore how one experienced mediator uses a similar approach to prepare mediator’s proposals, and how you can use the same process as you make your next settlement offer.

What Are the Chances Your Offer Will Be Accepted?

As I wrote my recent post on decision trees in mediation, accomplished mediator Jan Frankel Schau added her perspective on how she settles important cases on a related LinkedIn Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Group discussion.  Jan, who publishes Schau’s Mediation Insights, told us she frequently uses decision trees, but adds that a similar tool can be used to help parties determine the likelihood a counteroffer will be accepted:

I draw a distinction between a Decision Tree — which I use routinely to highlight the expenses and risks of litigation, from a Risk Based Analysis — which I use more sparingly in coaching parties about making a More…

Categories: Mediation, Negotiation, Settlement

Add Your PerspectiveApril 29, 2010

Settlement Perspectives: The Newsletter, April 2010

A Brief FYI for Readers Seeing This as a Post Online:

This continues the series of Settlement Perspectives Newsletters I started in 2009, sent occasionally to those who have requested the email version. Future versions will be shorter, published monthly, and generally sent by email only. If you’d like to receive the next edition directly, feel free to send me an email or sign up using the space provided on the right and I’ll put you on the list.  Thanks–

JD

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Dear Newsletter Reader–

Welcome to another issue of Settlement Perspectives’ occasional newsletter, designed to explore even further what we usually discuss — thoughts on how to resolve disputes and get your deal done.

These newsletters are designed to deliver three things:

1. A preview of upcoming posts on Settlement Perspectives;
2. Recent news, comments and miscellaneous information; and
3. Links to recent posts on Settlement Perspectives.

Miscellaneous News, Comments and Events

I’m happy to report a few recent developments:

• New professional website. In February I launched johndegroote.com as More…

Categories: Blogging, Miscellaneous, Newsletters