Before you engage in any negotiation, you need to prepare by understanding the issues both from your point of view and your opponent’s. It’s not enough to have a general idea. You need to spend some time on this and record how you will address these issues.

Too many negotiators forget to pay attention…

A big interest of mine is art theft and art forgery. Experts estimate that at least 20-50% of the art in the world’s major art museums and on the commercial art market is fake. How could this be?
The Value of Evidence
Three types of evidence support or debunk the authenticity of art:
-Forensics: scientific…

All the necessary parties had gathered for an in-person mediation. But one side said we could not proceed.
“I have just been presented with an expert’s report I have never seen before. I have to depose this expert and probably get my own expert. Then opposing counsel will want to depose my expert. We can’t…

Of course you want to take notes during mediation. You want to record new information as it emerges. You need to keep close track of demands and offers. But participants’ note taking could take away from the value of this mediation.
Don’t Get Distracted
Currently, most mediations happen over Zoom or a similar app. How…

At every stage in conflict resolution, parties face an array of choices, but they don’t always recognize them.
Can we offer the opposing party more ways to get to an acceptable conclusion? Think of ways to enhance the proposed monetary exchange with other items of value. That might be a resignation or an apology. Parties…

All successful mediations are alike; each unsuccessful mediation is unsuccessful in its own way.
OK, maybe you are more familiar with the actual first sentence of Leo Tolstoy’s 1878 novel Anna Karenina:
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

The Anna Karenina Principle
This mantra is so vital…

I see parties in mediation who seem to think the facts and law of their case will magically change. They act like their position is the only tenable one; they give no credence to an opposing view. They don’t prepare for the mediation. Maybe they’ll get it together just before the trial; maybe they won’t.…