Business Conflict Blog

I’m a 60-year old white guy, two years into the terrifying challenge of building a solo practice as a mediator/arbitrator.  And the gist of this post is that more women and people of color need to be hired as neutrals. 

I worked hard for this goal when I was Senior Vice President of CPR Institute, and served as Staff Liaison to the CPR Task Force on Diversity in ADR.  And now, that prima blogger assoluto al mondo, Victoria Pynchon, has started a series of posts with her characteristic flair and logical power, pressing the issue.  You Go, Girl! Read more »

Tags: ADR

Two interesting conferences will take place in Virginia during the month of March — one focusing on investor-state dispute prevention and the other on a variety of challenges and opportunities faced by Virginia mediators. Read more »

Tags: ADR, Mediation, systems design

This final post from the Madrid IBA Conference concerns a panel of corporate users who were asked whether subject-matter competence was an important factor in selection of a mediator. Read more »

Tags: ADR, Mediation

I first came upon the term “Collaborative Law” in 2006 when I met David Hoffman of Boston Law Collaborative.  David is a remarkable guy and could sell ice to an Eskimo if he thought the ice would be a benefit.  As concerns collaborative law, David is tireless in his advocacy, and he has every reason to be.  It sets lawyers to work on solving clients’ problems.  Strangely, some lawyers object on ethical grounds.  (Now, now, don’t smirk!) Read more »

Tags: ADR, conflict management, Negotiation