As any casual political observer knows, politicians are constantly in the business of casting events in the light most favorable to them. While some commentators describe this as “branding,” a better term for negotiators and mediators would be reframing. Reframing is a technique that good mediators use to great effect to help parties overcome a major psychological barrier to settlement. We begin with the important observation that people, and especially negotiators, are inher

As a mediator, I have occasionally been asked at the initiation of a mediation whether I would agree to serve as an arbitrator if the mediation doesn’t resolve the parties’ dispute. The parties’ objective is innocent; they’d like to save the time and cost of educating another neutral. Often the parties already know me and trust that I’ll be fair. Almost always, I decline unless I can alter the process (more on that later). Here’s why — Almost all of my mediations involve

About once or twice a month, I receive an inquiry from a lawyer who would like to make a career change to becoming a neutral. Sometimes the person is nearing retirement and looks favorably upon the apparent flexibility and freedom that an ADR practitioner seems to enjoy. Of course, the reality is quite different. Becoming a successful neutral is not an easy task and there is no guarantee for success. Ten years ago, when I chaired the Section of Dispute Resolution, it was r

One of the most effective techniques I know and use as a mediator is to begin negotiating the terms of the settlement agreement before the joint mediation session. Wait a second! That sounds counter-intuitive! How do you negotiate an agreement before you even sit down and face the other side? You don’t even know what they want! My instruction is simple: On the organizational phone call, I request that the defendant – the party paying money – draft and send a proposed sett

On October 17th, the Mediation Committee of the International Institute for Conflict Resolution & Prevention, also known as CPR, an independent non-profit organization focused on dispute resolution for global businesses and their counsel, held a teleconference on civility in mediation. Like many other mediators, I have noticed increasing incivility in some of my mediations. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times in our polarized society, but it is an unwelcome trend that interfer

This is the first in a series of short analyses of negotiation theory using President Trump’s style to illustrate key concepts. Because the President’s negotiation methods are so well known and on display almost daily, they provide ample evidence to use as a teaching tool to demonstrate important principles of negotiation. In this post, we will look at President Trump’s competitive style of negotiation and a related concept, reputation. President Trump largely eschews integr

In 1980, Robert Axlerod published the first article in what would become his book The Evolution of Cooperation. Based on a fascinating experiment, actually a tournament he conducted, he coined a negotiation strategy, Tit for Tat. Axlerod invited contestants, first from the United States and then from around the world, to submit algorithms that could be deployed against the classic game theory example, the Prisoner’s Dilemma. In its most simplest description, two suspects w