Mediation

As a mediator, I’m obligated to sit in a room, virtual or otherwise, and listen to complete strangers relate the circumstances of their dispute in ways they hope will be compelling and convincing. Occasionally they embellish those stories. Occasionally they lie. How do we, as professional neutrals, discern the truth from the…untruth? Why do we […]

I was recently asked to mediate a family business dispute, something I’d never done before. Having previously worked as an actor, I did what any actor would have done if they had been in a similar position.

The Southern California Mediation Association is one of the most extraordinary organizations I’ve ever been a part of. The benefits of joining are only equal to the benefits you derive from becoming a mediator. The most important qualities a mediator has to possess are patience and generosity of spirit. Also, the ability to listen with

A continuation high school is where students who struggle in the regular public high schools can come to make up their credits. Sounds easy but it’s tough to leave behind the habits that got you into trouble in the first place. They come to school ready to blame everyone else to such an extent that

I’ve always believed that life is about perspective and choices. Justlike any tool, first, you have to have them, then you have to know howto use them. In mediation, the lack of at least one alternative perspective orchoice becomes evident very quickly. The parties appear, ready to dobattle, coming from their respective corners where they

In November 2017, I had a stroke. It occurred deep in my brain and totally paralyzed my left side. I spent a week in intensive care, then six weeks in a convalescent hospital, followed by many months in a wheelchair going to physical, occupational, and speech therapy. When I got fed up using a walker

Back in 1994, there was a conflict in Central Europe that was reminiscent of World War II. Not to go into too much detail, hundreds of thousands of Muslims were being systematically slaughtered in the name of ethnic cleansing by Bosnian Serb militias, exactly like the 6 million Jews during the Holocaust. No Western government

I went back. After I returned home from my first trip to Bosnia and walked into my house, I saw my wife and infant daughter who would remind me in later years that that was the first time she had ever seen me cry (there would be many more), I was contacted by British Actor’s

Conflict eventually ends. Then what do you do? On Pink’s brilliant new album TRUSTFALL, is a duet she sings with Chris Stapleton entitled Just Say I’m Sorry, an affecting and beautiful song about, you guessed it, apologizing. The chorus goes like this: Everybody wants to be The one who’s right Everybody wants the last word