1 PerspectiveFebruary 23, 2013
Something Bigger: Gene Roberts’s Remarks at the 2013 TAM Annual Conference
As a longtime participant in the mediation process my primary focus has been its impact on my clients’ litigation — it’s one way cases get resolved, which saves us all money, time, risk, and more. But yesterday I got another perspective on mediation, and I was reminded that it is, truly, Something Bigger. My perspective came from Gene Roberts at North Texas Negotiations who, along with Adam McGough, chairs this year’s Annual Conference for the Texas Association of Mediators.
Gene’s remarks begin with the traditional perspective of a conference chair, but the message he gets to is unmistakable:
The conference is run by volunteers. There’s no paid staff. We’ve done our best and we ask for your indulgence if something unexpected happens. It’s not for want of planning More…
Categories: ADR,Mediation,Miscellaneous,Negotiation
2 PerspectivesJune 11, 2012
Who Serves as Settlement Counsel? The (Updated) List
As you may know from my last post, I’ve been working on a few settlement counsel projects this summer. Along the way I’ve learned that it’s not always easy to determine who actually serves as settlement counsel. This is my effort to fix that problem.
Subject to the caveats at the bottom of this post, this list includes all the active settlement counsel I have found, updated as new information arrives. If you’re aware of additional settlement counsel out there, or if you believe the hyperlink to one of the folks listed below needs to be updated, please let me know.
List of Special Settlement Counsel
- Stephen D. “Steve” Altman – Washington, D.C.
- Trey Bergman – Houston, Texas
- Robert W. “Bob” Berliner, Jr. – Chicago, Illinois
- Julian W. Bodnar – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada)
- Monte Bond – Dallas, Texas
- Mark J. Bunim – New York, New York
- Mark A. Calhoun – Dallas, Texas
- Francis “Frank” Carling – New York, New York
- Francis L. Carter - Miami, Florida
- Jonathan M. Cohen – Washington, D.C.
- Robert F. “Bob” Copple – Scottsdale, Arizona
- Ralph Cuervo-Lorens – Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
- Ben Cunningham – Austin, Texas
- John DeGroote – Dallas, Texas More…
Categories: Miscellaneous,Negotiation,Settlement,Settlement Counsel
1 PerspectiveMay 29, 2012
Why Settlement Counsel? A Lesson from the Scorpion and the Frog
“We do not ask our generals to be diplomats, nor our diplomats to be generals.” William F. Coyne, Jr. used that quote to explain the concept of settlement counsel in a Negotiation Journal article over a decade ago, and I keep coming back to it.
Why does your litigator focus on what happened, rather than what you want? Is there a reason she needs more depositions before she’s ready to talk settlement? Why does she have a trial plan but not a settlement plan?
Why Your Litigator Does What She Does
Dallas-based settlement counsel Christopher Nolland recently told me that the story of The Scorpion and the Frog helps explain why we need special settlement counsel, and he’s right. AesopFables.com tells the story as follows:
A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, “How do I More…
Categories: Miscellaneous,Negotiation,Selected Posts,Settlement,Settlement Counsel
5 PerspectivesApril 2, 2012
Malibu in June? Yes, You Can – And Here’s Why You Should
Whether you’re traveling from Santa Monica or Sanibel Island, getting to Pepperdine for a few days of training isn’t easy, and I don’t endorse any class lightly. That said, I’m happy to recommend a course I took last summer that’ll be taught again this June by Don Philbin and Doug Noll — because it’s just that good.
Philbin and Noll’s course, Preventing Bad Settlement Decisions and Impasse Using Brain Science, Game Theory, Animated Communication, and Micro-Interventions, is one of 15 courses offered in Malibu this June at the 25th Annual Summer Professional Skills Program put on by Pepperdine’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, and it has earned its More…
Categories: Education,Mediation,Miscellaneous,Negotiation
Settlement Perspectives
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of John DeGroote.
I created this site to help clients and their counsel navigate the challenges that inevitably result from disputes, settlement efforts, impasse, and negotiation in general. The perspectives I bring are based on my experience, summarized in this abbreviated bio. If you have any questions or thoughts about this site, or an issue you’d like to see addressed, please email me at:
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