I smell like strong black coffee and the bitter residue of a sixteen hour day spent reviewing financial affidavits. You think you want your day in court. You tell me you want justice. I tell you that your case is currently a sinking ship and the only reason you haven’t drowned yet is that I…
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Sit down. Drink your coffee. You are here because you think the mediation process is a fair fight. It is not. I have spent twenty five years in the trenches of litigation and I have seen the most expensive neutrals in the country fold like wet paper under the pressure of a high-value carrier. Litigation…
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I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a deposition because they ignored one simple rule about silence. They felt an overwhelming urge to fill the quiet air. They thought the opposing counsel was a sympathetic ear. That same psychological trap exists in every mediation suite from Los Angeles…
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Mastering the Narcissist in Family Law Mediation I once watched a client dismantle their own claim in the first ten minutes of a mediation session because they ignored the rule of silence. The smell of burnt black coffee filled the conference room while my client tried to explain their feelings to a person who possesses…
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The myth of the neutral party Mediation fails because it requires voluntary concessions and negotiation, which are impossible when a litigant is emotionally detached or checked out. Without active participation, the mediator cannot bridge the gap between conflicting interests, leading to a litigation impasse and wasted legal services fees. I watched a client lose their…
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Listen close because the coffee in this office is stronger than your current legal strategy and I do not have time to sugarcoat your financial ruin. You think you are being civil. You think you are saving money by sitting around a conference table holding hands and talking about feelings. You are wrong. I watched…
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I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a deposition because they ignored one simple rule about silence. It was a cold Tuesday morning, the air smelling of burnt coffee and floor wax. We were outside Department 42. The opposition counsel, a man who built a career on intimidation,…
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The steam from my black coffee is the only warm thing in this room. My client is across from me, looking at their shoes, telling me they just want the divorce to be over. They want to be fair. They want to be nice. I have heard this exact sentence from three different people this…
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The air in my office always smells like ozone and mint before a major filing. It is the scent of static electricity from the printers and the sharp clarity of a fresh legal strategy. I recently spent 14 hours deconstructing a contract that was designed to be unreadable, only to find the one clause that…
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The air in the conference room always smells like ozone and mint before a disaster. I have seen it a hundred times. A client walks in, confident that the process is fair because a neutral party sits at the head of the table. They do not realize they have already lost. I watched a client…
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