Mediation Negotiation: Sometimes When You Give More You Get More
Everyone negotiates differently, but certain patterns emerge over time. Often, a plaintiff will have a much too high settlement demand which will lead to a much too low response to that demand. There are two outcomes when this pattern emerges. Either... Read More
Mediation-The Power of a CCP Section 998 Offer to Compromise
A strategic Section 998 Offer to Compromise can make all the difference in getting a matter resolved. This was highlighted in one of my recent mediations. The plaintiff was clinging to a speculative damages theory; when faced with a settlement offer ... Read More
Nothing Completely Replaces In-Person Mediation
I have previously written about the effectiveness of Zoom mediation. There is no doubt that Zoom mediation works and, as a result, I have resolved many matters utilizing Zoom. But does anything completely replace in-person mediation? A recent in-... Read More
There Is Creativity Even in A Straightforward Settlement
Recently, a mediator colleague lamented that the settlements reached at his mediation were more and more following a predictable range and pattern. I thought about this in connection with a lender-guarantor dispute that I mediated. Read More
A Year of Zoom Mediation
I am commemorating one-year of an entirely virtual mediation practice. In March 2018, when I launched Petlak Mediation, I could not have foreseen a worldwide pandemic which would prevent me from conducting in-person mediations for an entire year. Read More
