Extreme Opening Offers: How to Stay Grounded Without Giving Ground
Every mediator and negotiator knows the moment: one side opens with an extreme offer, laughably high or low. And yet, the receiving end is in no mood to laugh. Mismanaging this moment can cost credibility, momentum, and outcome.
Understanding how to interpret that offer and respond effectively is one of the most valuable skills a negotiator can develop. It can make the difference between a productive or derailed negotiation.
Anchoring and Asymmetry: Strategic Considerations for Making the First Offer
The decision to make the first offer is one I discuss often—in teaching and in practice. Beneath it lies a core strategic tension: the advantage of setting the anchor—a cognitive bias in which the first number offered subtly shapes future judgments—versus the risk of miscalculation when information is incomplete or uneven.
A Stone in Still Water: The Growing Debate over AI in Dispute Resolution
Just recently, an email thread among legal academics landed in my inbox with the force of a well-thrown stone in still water. The subject: artificial intelligence and its role—present and future—in alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The exchanges were thoughtful, sometimes pointed, and remarkably revealing. They made one thing clear: our field is changing fast, and there’s no consensus on what that change means.
How Do You Avoid Being Pulled Under When Mediating With High Conflict Personalities?
Anyone who mediates or litigates long enough has faced the kind of case that stops you in your tracks. A case that should settle turns volatile. Blame cycles take hold. Emotion overrides logic. Rational solutions that meet interests are ignored, parties talk about litigating on “principle” and “burying’ the other side, and the whole thing becomes destabilizing—not just for the parties, but for everyone in the mediation.
Beyond the Standard Settlement Conference: Consider Customizing Your Commercial Dispute Mediation
In this article published in the Colorado Lawyer, I write about the benefits of customizing a mediation process for commercial disputes. According to a recent survey, many mediators are giving only limited attention to preparing for mediations and planning the process. Absent such planning, parties default to zero-sum bargaining and make concessions that may be suboptimal. The article explains when and how to design a mediation process that can maximize opportunities for reaching creative and efficient resolutions to commercial disputes.