Emancipation in California

Emancipation in California

How does the Petition for Declaration of Emancipation of Minor work? Let’s take a look.  Seventeen-year-old Gloria stares at her bank balance unbelievingly. “Mom! Did you take money out of my savings account again?  Her Mom, Jean, seems embarrassed. “I had to, baby. The rent was due and I haven’t been up to working full …

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Divorce Mediation Checklist

Divorce mediation checklist

Our divorce mediation checklist will help you go through the divorce mediation checklist and negotiation process. When it’s time to divorce, there may be an urge to try and put the marriage entirely behind you. However, your life will probably be entangled with your spouse’s for a long time, especially if the marriage was long …

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Types of Mediation: Evaluative, Facilitative, and Transformative

Types of Mediation

Understanding the types of mediation is a vital skill when preparing for and participating in mediation.  Knowing how the mediator is operating and what skills they are using is important for the parties and their counsel to work best with the mediator and still emphasize what is an important consideration for them.  It is also …

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Limits of Confidentiality

limits of confidentiality

While much of the alternative dispute resolution world, and many other professional fields, love to highlight the benefits of confidentiality, many of them fail to point out the limits of confidentiality.  Understanding these limits is a vital aspect of sharing your information and keeping your information confidential.  Without a clear understanding of when confidentiality will …

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High Conflict Personality

High Conflict Personality

What is a high-conflict personality? If you have ever been in a conflict with a person who seems keener on continuing and escalating the conflict than resolving it, you may be dealing with one. High-conflict personalities are not the easiest to have conversations with, especially if you need to resolve the conflict.  However, high-conflict personalities …

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What is the Meaning of Impasse in Dispute Resolution?

impasse meaning

The word impasse has a particular meaning when it applies to alternative dispute resolution.  The Collins English Dictionary defines the impasse noun by describing a situation, particularly, “If people are in a difficult position in which it is impossible to make any progress, you can refer to the situation as an impasse.”  While the meaning …

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Average Settlement Offers During Mediation – Best Tips for 2023

Average settlement offers during mediation

Average settlement offers during mediation are an important consideration when a party is considering using mediation to settle a lawsuit. Combining this knowledge with other tips and tricks for settling a lawsuit through mediation can ensure that a party is prepared to tackle a mediation during a civil lawsuit and achieve the best possible outcome. …

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Integrative Negotiation: Understanding and Implementing the Style

Integrative Negotiation

While it is not a new concept, integrative negotiation is a tool that may feel new to some negotiators. When negotiations are starting to fall apart and the parties seem to be making little progress toward an agreement, taking an integrative approach to negotiation may help the parties find common ground or a place where …

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Mediation’s Higher Calling: Feel the Love

What is Mediation? There are many benefits to mediation, including spiritual and emotional, according to an article written by Dr. Denisha Shah. Attorneys who use the mediation process may focus on the more immediate benefits (ideally, a case settles and a file closes). Still, there are more extensive benefits that all participants may benefit from. …

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