The 10 Best AmLaw 100 Web Sites

From Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog the following AmLaw 100 law firms picked out as having the best Web sites:

Baker & Hostetler LLP www.bakerlaw.com
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP www.wilmerhale.com
Jones Day LLP www.jonesday.com
Andrews Kurth LLP www.andrewskurth.com
Hogan & Hartson LLP www.hhlaw.com
Foley & Lardner LLP www.foley.com
Dorsey & Whitney LLP www.dorsey.com
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC www.mintzlevin.com
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP www.eapdlaw.com
Shearman & Sterling LLP www.shearman.com

As always there are some lessons for mediators here.

Chasing the Pink Dollar

Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 10:27:43

From: Natalie Armstrong

Subject: Mediators needed for growing panel

[ADR List Service. See bottom for subscription info. and list guidelines]

I hope that some of you will find this opportunity appropriate and interesting.

Stonewall ADR is the first international alternative dispute resolution firm geared specifically toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community.

The firm, founded by TerryBeth Cherry in Santa Monica, California, provides resolution of LGBT issues and conflicts through mediation, arbitration, and conciliation.

Stonewall ADR is actively seeking to increase its panel of neutrals.

If you have an affiliation with, or are a member of, the LGBT community, please consider joining Stonewall ADR in its mission to provide professional resolution services.

For more information about joining the Stonewall ADR panel, contact Terry at 310-570-0031 or via email TCherry@StonewallADR.com

You might also look at www.StonewallADR.com for general information.

Natalie J. Armstrong
President
____________
Golden Media
Marketing Resolution
1541 Ocean Avenue., Suite 200
Santa Monica, California 90401

StonewallADR's blog here

A Guide to the Mediation Blogosphere

If you are reading this far into the entrails of the blogosphere, you probably don't need a hitchhiker's guide, but it's here at mediate.com if you want to pass it on to those amongst us who still don't get the whole blogs, bloggers and blogging thing...

OR... if you can't be bothered exploring the known mediation universe and you've always wanted to cut through all the crap on the web to go straight to the absolute end of the Internet (I went there the other day and only just now made it back) - click here;

The Mediation vBlog Project

Hey, I'm so excited to launch the Mediation vBlog Project, an experiment in mediator networking by video - a kind of mediation genome project by video blog.

I've been working on it for a while now and it's finally ready to take on the road!

So, see what it's all about over at www.mediationvBlog.com

The vBlog Project is all about giving mediators at the coalface of practice a platform to collaborate, contribute and converse…

An email exchange today

For a while now I have been chasing 'John' for an old bill on a mediation I had done for his law firm last year, with no joy.

I got no response for months until, out of the blue a fortnight ago, I got a new job from his firm, no mention of the debt, just an interesting looking 2 day mediation...

And today this was my attempt at turning a year and a half old debt into an opportunity...

ME;
>Hi John, Just trying to sort my end of year schedule out as I have pressure on dates.
>At present that 2 day mediation you emailed me on is pencilled in for 4 and 5 December...is this now a confirmed date?
>If so, we should convene a conference call soon to sort out any premediation matters like venue/docs/numbers attending etc.
>Can you let me know please?

HIM;
>Thx.
>Am seeking instuctions.
>I better pay that last bill.
>My problem was that I did not receive it from my clients...Anyway no doubt it is due, and appears we are destined to have quite a lot of contact because you are about to be contacted on another fairly significant matter by [ x ] in Christchurch.

ME;
>John, I didn't realise you had not been paid...after what I recall as an ok result too...no drama, do you want to go halves on the pain, so just pay 50%? Fair?

HIM;
>If thats ok with you.

ME;
>Fine with me, to be honest I'm more interested in being your mediator of choice than getting an old bill of this amount paid, so whatever works at your end.


Sort of related and sort of inconsistent with what I did; Cheaper is a short term hit, not a long term advantage

Thoughts anyone?

Social Loafing

There were unexpected large numbers of people in the room for my 2 day mediation last week with some suprising consequences.

Both organizations had difficulty identifying who would be attending. I pondered this briefly at intake, but if it was a flag I missed it.

Both groups appeared to have unusually flat hierarchies.

As we got under way, it became clear no one in either group was willing to take the lead and be the decision maker. Even in private, there was no clear chain of command or even active consensus seeking in either room.

To me the groups appeared unmotivated, although individually there appeared to be strong views (mostly in furtive corridor discussions) but they seemed to get lost as soon as the group reformed.

Individuals actively sought anonymity within the group and diffused responsibility where they could, even when this mediator named people when asking questions that would normally elicit progress.

So what was going on?

Was it like me at my youngster's school sports the other weekend when we had the dads' 'tug of war' where I leaned lamely on the rope and let the other 40 fathers do the work - no one noticed did they?... back in 1913 Max Ringelmann did...our side lost.

Well, it turns out in both situations we had some loafers/loungers/do-nothings/slackers and wastrels...

You see, social loafing is an interesting phenomenon where people make less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone.

This is one of the main reasons that groups sometimes perform less than the combined performance of their members working as individuals.

What we know about social loafing so far;

1. The more people, the more at risk the group

2. It seems to be a Western thing

3. To avoid loafing, as a mediator you may consider;

• everyone in a group knows that they can easily be evaluated by others - so you might set up a kind of debrief of the joint session in the private session process
• address players directly, so they have nowhere to hide
• dividing things up into individual bite size tasks, effectively avoiding group work where you can
• calling the elephant in the room may help, 'ok, why aren't we getting much traction here...' and have the group sort itself out

This stuff seems interesting and future posts will look at the related topics of;

deindividuation -the process by which components of an individual are integrated into a more indivisible whole, and

social facilitation -the increased likelihood of an individual performing tasks when in the company of others, shown to be strongest among those who are most concerned about the opinions of others, and when the individual is being watched by someone they do not know.

Message from Jim Melamed

"Geoff,

I hope that you will consider supporting the "Mediators' Statement" described at www.concernedmediators.com.

There is a Press Release at www.concernedmediators.org/pg9.cfm which is to be distributed as widely as possible.

Thanks for your consideration and efforts to get this Press Release to the larger world. Please pass on to family and friends and ask them to do the same. We can make the world a more sane and better place.

Time for us all to step up.

Jim Melamed, CEO for www.Mediate.com"

Here is the text of the Mediators' Statement developed at the recent Senior Mediators Conference in Keystone, Colorado:

"Given that the world is confronted with real and perceived threats from several international arenas we, the undersigned, urge that citizens of our nations insist their elected and appointed government officials immediately engage in honest, direct and unconditional negotiations with all authorities and powers who can resolve these pending crises in ways that are equitable and practical for all concerned without sacrifice to national sovereignty or security. As citizens of the world and as professional negotiators and mediators we urge that proven conflict resolution processes be employed now"

Let's support it folks

Impasse and the Threatened Walk Out

Over at The Divorce Law Journal, a very mediation friendly family law blog, Diana Skaggs has a great post Impasse and the Threatened Walk Out.

Diana helpfully points us to Peace Talks for some good material. Check out some useful resources for family mediation participants;

Child Centered Issues;
Child Support Checklist
Parenting Plan Checklist
Parenting Plan Holiday Schedule
Parenting Plan Daily Calendar
Child Information Worksheet
Sample Parenting Plan Schedules
Reasons to Mediate Parenting Plans
When Your Children are With the Other Parent
Personal Forms;
Personal Data and Information
Division of Property Checklist
Budget and Income Information
Financial Information
Spousal Support Issues
Spousal Support Buy Out Issues
Spousal Support Checklist
Dealing with Conflict

Here for my post on my own recent walk out.

Get Sued

This is a road map for clients so they can sue us

This one is for mediators to avoid getting sued

Cheaper is a short term hit, not a long term advantage

Thinking about where to pitch your mediation fees?

Read this post from Seth Godin before you decide to discount....

Betcha your Batna is worse than mine

My October Harvard/PON Negotiation newsletter arrived with this morning's post.

On the back page is an article on the Rock/Paper/Scissors case from Florida that got so much attention back in June.

The blogosphere posted on it here, here and here and probably elsewhere (no link...hmmm is it possible to link to elsewhere?)

In brief, the lawyers could not agree in which of their law firm offices they would depose a witness to the trial, so the judge ordered them to play a game of chance - R/P/S.

Hey, those lawyers so deserved it - their offices were in the same building, four floors apart.

Anyway, as a follow up PON report they settled it rather than be shamed into a game of chance (and litigation is....?).

PON also note what a clever judge that Hon Gregory A. Presnell is, because his ruling established a new BATNA for the parties, one that didn't exist before.

You may recall King Solomon doing the same thing a while back.

Sort of related: the World R/P/S Championship (video)

Sorry, but who are you again?

The notion that mediators are central to the mediation process but matter not at all has always fascinated me.

That we are invisible and forgettable; that people meet us when they are in the trenches of conflict and that we should not expect or need to be remembered by them after they have clambered their way out - is tough to take when we spend our life doing this work.

David Hoffman's wonderful article Paradoxes of Mediation explores this and other tensions in more detail... Similar in a way to Robert Benjamin's romantic concept... 'dwelling alone in the middle; a mediator must remain marginal...on the fringe, an outsider'

...but the really interesting question for us all is whether we see this in our lives outside the mediation room?

I think I might.

*invisible and forgettable; p71, How to Make Money as a Mediator

This looks as if it might be historic, last day tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it. Stay tuned.

"The road to enlightenment is long and difficult, so we are asking you to bring sandwhiches and a change of clothing."

Consolidating Our Collective Wisdom

Best Counsel and Advice to the Next Generation
An Invitational Meeting of Experienced Mediators & Facilitators October 8-11, 2006 at Keystone, Colorado

This unique invitational meeting of conflict management pioneers, leaders, and program founders will: (1) take stock of where the field has come over the past three decades; (2) assess the current landscape and field’s current strengths and weaknesses; and (3) prepare a statement of best counsel and guidance to the next generation of policy-making and policy-influencing practitioners.

Among the topics to be taken up are:

· The conflict resolution field – challenges past, present, and future
· Negotiation and our legal, political, and social cultures
· Conflict resolution, democratic ideals & social justice
· The next 25 years: highest hopes and worst fears
· Lessons for future generations

Online teleconference: blog marketing

This Thursday 11 October, Marketing Mediation Excellence will be the theme of a free 1 hour online teleconference to be presented by a group of us mediators and lawyers at 11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern, 7 pm UK/Ireland, and 7 am (the next day, Friday 12 October in New Zealand - do it in your jammies)

This innovative event is organized by the very able John DeBruyn, based in Denver and will primarily look at blogging (why blog/why read/mediation blog marketing and networking) but also mediation web sites and newsletters.

Panel members include;
Robert Ambrogi, Boston area

Diane Levin, Boston area

John DeBruyn, Colorado

Gini Nelson, New Mexico

Louise Wildee, Colorado

Geoff Sharp, New Zealand

We'll be referring to a set of power point slides that may be loaded on your computer and viewed during the online teleconference.

Join the over 100 already registered, go get connected at the conference web site http://coadr.com/

Most of us will be using Skype http://skype.com/

Matching lawyers to clients #2

In a compassionate fight?

Then get a compassionate dog.

Ever noticed how lawyers and clients sometimes take on alarmingly similar characteristics in mediation?

In a mean fight?

Post-Decision Dissonance

I spent this last week rising at 5.30am to head down to a pristine Fijian beach on the Pacific Ocean.

I would sit on the sand, bleary eyed in my lavalava, watching the fishermen bring in their catch for the early morning wet markets of Suva and Nadi.

When we're on holiday I'm on breakfast duty and I clumsily bargained with the fishermen for our daily coral trout or large crab.

But there was, believe it or not, a definite downside to this idyllic existence.

You see, I spent the rest of the day wondering whether or not I got a bargain there on the beach.

Having cut out the middle man I fully expected to be well ahead but I still found time to sneak off to the local village market later in the day to compare my morning's purchase.

Its a stretch, but my experience at mediation has been similar... after parties have made a decision to settle they will often feel dissonance about the possibility of having been taken... what is with that?

When I did see my fish in the market for less, I would look at it and say 'well, its not as fresh' or 'actually its not as fat...' Anything to reduce the dissonance I was feeling and make my deal on the beach seem more attractive.

There's research on Post-Decision Dissonance.

Three conditions are found to heighten post-decision dissonance:
1. the importance of the issue
2. the amount of time an individual delays in choosing
3. the difficulty involved in reversing the decision once it’s been made

But do I have a role as mediator to involve myself in something that may or may not take place after the mediation?

Well duh, I think so... durable outcomes, settlement stickability... ring a bell?

Last week's decision of the California Court of Appeal in Simmons v. Lida Ghaderi should remind us of the importance of that.

We may also get some clues on what mediators should do when faced with buyer's remorse from advice to lawyers when faced with the same problem in an out of court settlement...'cognitive dissonance theory reminds us that anxiety stalks our clients from the time they select us to work for them... Smart lawyers will try to eliminate doubt and ambiguity in client relations by... [read more]

Sort of related Confirmation Bias