Featured Articles

Why Common Sense, Compassion and Listening Twice As Much As You Talk Are The Best Negotiation Strategies In Law and Life

Victoria Pynchon
October 27, 2008 11:30

Guest Blogger - Susan Cartier Liebel First, I'm honored to be guest blogging while Vickie is away campaigning her heart out until November 4. I'm also a little intimidated to be here as I can't speak on negotiation with the authority Vickie can, after all she's a distinguished and honored expert on...

Negotiating Thanksgiving by Being of Service

Victoria Pynchon
November 25, 2008 17:10

Thanksgiving Day begins a season that reminds many of us that our earliest negotiation experiences were those with our family.  When I was a child, these were the issues on the Thanksgiving bargaining table Who gets to snap the wishbone (does anyone do this anymore?) Who gets to sit...

Hope, Safety and Innovation

Victoria Pynchon
October 17, 2008 15:11

The first thing we mediators are taught (after digesting the imperative to "be conscious") is that people in conflict need to be in an atmosphere of hope and safety to be able to:  (1)  recognize the point of view of another; (2) be accountable for his/her own "part"...

What We Think We Know Can Hurt Our Negotiating Position

Victoria Pynchon
October 16, 2008 17:04

I watched the debate last night with people who support my candidate.  They all also happened to be mediators, so they understand concepts like confirmation bias --the tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoids information and...

Recent Articles

For Your Attorney Holiday Book Gift List: Conflict Revolution

Victoria Pynchon
December 20, 2008 21:57

Book Review of Conflict Revolution; Mediating Evil, War, Injustice and Terrorism: How Mediators Can Help Save the Planet by Kenneth Cloke reviewed by Victoria Pynchon - Get more College Essays

e-Bleak House: Twitter "Tweets" Discoverable

Victoria Pynchon
December 17, 2008 15:29

From E-discovery implications of Twitter at Lawyers USA The social networking site Twitter.com allows users just 140 characters to describe what the user is up to – a post known as a "tweet." But lawyers advising clients on e-discovery or using Twitter themselves need to realize...

Can You Spell Autistic Hostility? Bertuzzi/Moore Mediate

Victoria Pynchon
December 17, 2008 00:31

As CR Info explains People tend to break off interaction and communication with those they dislike. When this happens people become stuck in autistic hostility, that is, their hostility is perpetuated by their refusal to communicate. One-time Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore and former...

Arbitration and E-Discovery: Make Up Your Own #^%@ Law!

Victoria Pynchon
December 16, 2008 17:43

The National Law Journal's annoying practice of making its "best" content available only with a secret decoder ring forged in the fire of subscription dollars, nevertheless did not stop me from access to an intriguing article about arbitration's "e-discovery conundrum" (here for...

To Arbitrate or Not Arbitrate Securities Fraud, That is the Question

Victoria Pynchon
December 15, 2008 19:59

FINRA Securities Arbitration or Class Action Lawsuits? A common question asked by investment fraud victims is whether they should partake in a class action lawsuit of a securities arbitration claim. Often, investors are presented with a choice of either partaking in a class action lawsuit or...

Negotiation Trust: It's ALWAYS an Inside Job

Victoria Pynchon
December 15, 2008 16:20

As I head out to mediate an alleged Ponzi scheme purportedly perpetrated by one member of the Adath Israel Shul/* against another, I ponder its similarity to many other allegedly fraudulent financial schemes I've personally mediated.  Then I pick up the morning New York Times where,...