The Context and Framework of Conflict Coaching

As I have written previously, the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) field is a broad one, which includes among other things, mediation and conflict coaching.  While I have mediated for a number of years, I am new to the conflict coaching field and continue to

UNM Family Law Mediation Take Aways 2012

Last month I attended 40 hours of very excellent Family Law Mediation Training conducted by Judge Nan Nash, David Levin, and Laura Bassein, for the University of New Mexico.  Although I have been mediating for a number of years, including mediating family law matters for the past two years, I benefited greatly from the training.  In particularly, I was struck by the old adage that "you don't know what you don't know," and the notion that we as mediators need ongoing and comprehensive training, with its attendant role plays, to stay sharp and continue to grow as mediators.  

In that spirit I would like to share some "take aways" for my clients and other practitioners.

NM Arbitration--State Supreme Court Bucks National Trends

In July I wrote about a NM Court of Appeals case dealing with the enforceability of an arbitration clause, Felts v. CLK Management, 2011-NMCA-062, cert. granted.  I suggested the decision was not consistent with then-emergent SCOTUS precedent, or the subsequently issued AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, No. 09-893 (Apr. 27, 2011), because of its quickness to accord itself—rather than the arbitrator—the right to determine the arbitrability question.

 

Those employed or regularly engaged in the arbitration field know that this is no light question.  As I wrote in the earlier blog, “if an agreement to arbitrate includes