I have just returned from three days in British Columbia (Victoria and Vancouver) spent talking about the SRL Phenomenon – the numbers, its impact, and what kinds of change are needed to even begin to address the crisis in justice services.

I spoke with government officers and staff, lawyers, law students, judges and mediators. I was ably assisted in communicating the urgency of the problem by three local SRLs from the NSRLP Speakers Bank (thank you to Jennifer…

"What's Happening in Conflict Resolution" is a weekly round up of the all the ADR news, jobs, events and more. Check it out each week and view past versions [HERE].…

Negotiation / conflict management teacher?

Here's a simulation for you (complete with teacher's guide) - conducted by students through email:…

I don't get to watch the news much anymore ... but when I saw this story I just had to write about it.

The Buddy Bench is a wonderful program that schools all across the country are embracing and kids are part of the driving force in making it happen.

How does it work?

When a child feels alone or excluded…

(First published in conflictconversations.org)

When Tammy Lenski posted on her blog yesterday the Chinese…

The following are statistics about the use of mediation, its impact on crisis management and long-term tension reduction, and the effectiveness of various mediation styles and organizations. This is by no means a literature review but just a few numbers I found interesting.

Please feel free to respond by sharing the statistics you’ve found in your research, of course including appropriate references so sources can be verified...…

Having elementary-school-aged children is a very precarious time for a marriage--or so I learned during graduate school. I remember having an infant at the time and wondering--will my husband and I break-up when they hit school-age?

Not sure if the book I read gave an in-depth reason for this trend, but it may have something to do with the rigors of child-rearing...or maybe the Seven-Year-Itch that many couples encounter, which happens to coincide with this time in many couples'…

We know that conflict has the potential for bringing out negativity in us when we are in dispute with another person. What form and shape that takes varies, of course, and depends in large part on our individual ways of coping, the circumstances, who the other person is, and the history with her or him. Negativity that erupts in any case seems to increase as we become more and more entrenched and the certainty about our rightness and the other person’s wrongness prevails. We may…

The Texas Conflict Coach radio program's mission is to raise awareness and educate the general public and our communities about conflict resolution and peace building. In doing so, we are collaborating with Mediation Station in Toronto, Canada to encourage deeper understanding through meaningful talk and deeper…

In my latest Canadian HR Law blog post, I provided some tips on how parties should approach mediation. These are based on my experience as counsel and as a mediator. They include:

1. Focus on the future, not the past
2. Let reason, not emotion, rule
3. Take time to assess your BATNA
4. Don't overestime the value of having your 'day in court'
5. Come with authority to settle, and with flexibility
6. Take advantage of the opportunity to settle – but…

We know that the experience of self-representation in our justice system is remarkably consistent.

It takes enormous work and effort.

It is a frustrating, stressful and often an interminably long experience.

There are some good days – and many bad days.

And even those few whose good days outnumber their bad days acknowledge the very same work, effort, frustration and stress.…

"What's Happening in Conflict Resolution" is a weekly round up of the all the ADR news, jobs, events and more. Check it out each week and view past versions [HERE]…

Have you ever felt like you have been dragged into a dispute??

I don't know about you, but I have.

Before you can blink, your muscles are starting to tense and your heart beats faster. Your lizard brain is starting to engage and the little hairs on the back of your neck are starting to bristle. You're in ... and ready to 'get it on.'

Did you ever think that you…

A short summary document from our original research data and interviews with court staff: Read More

When deciding whether to use a mediator for a personal conflict, which factor is most important to potential clients? Convenience, Cost, Credentials, or Consumer Critiques?

Advancing Dispute Resolution posed this question to over 1,500 of your friends, neighbors, and co-workers across the U.S. Their response: 40% consider mediator credentials to be most important, while 31% choose to weigh costs first. Not terribly…

From Mediate.com

by Giuseppe de Palo, Christian Radu Chereji, Constantin-Adi Gavrila

The above three authors recently wrote a fairly in-depth response to Adi Gavrila's article titled "What Went Wrong With Mediation." …

It's been a pretty stressful week in our home. My husband, who started a new job about a year ago, is under a tremendous amount of pressure at work--trying to please his boss. Now, my husband would be classified as a people-pleaser and very, very easy to please. I'm being serious when I tell you that all he asked for when he turned 48 this past January was a bag of pretzels and some Cokes (and that's what he got).…

It seems statements that go like, “I didn’t mean it that way” are ones we use when something we said or how we said it is misinterpreted by another person and offends her or him. Or, it may be a gesture that is misread. In either case, as a consequence of the other person’s reaction to us and the realization that our words or actions are perceived in a way that is not intended, we attempt to defend ourselves and explain what we meant. This is when we may utter phrases like, “I didn’t mean it…

Most of us understand when there is a conflict, but we have not looked at what keeps us locked into the conflict. Those three components are powerful magnets for us. The program today will examine how identity, emotion and power work in conflict, and how understanding each of them…

Hon. Michele F. Lowrance (Ret.), Joins JAMS in Chicago

March 10, 2014

CHICAGO – JAMS, the largest private provider of mediation and arbitration services worldwide, today announced the addition of Hon. Michele F. Lowrance (Ret.) to its panel.  Judge Lowrance will be based in the JAMS Chicago Resolution Center and is available to hear cases nationwide.  She will serve as a mediator within the family law practice…