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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Common Loopholes in Contracts: One Party Bypassing a Contract

You’ve likely heard the phrase “there’s always a loophole” when people are discussing a contract, and many times it is true. If a party has a savvy attorney or understands the business of creating and signing contracts, they will often try to include a clause to excuse themselves from performing a term in the contract. …

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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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Resolution vs Solution | How to Properly Solve a Conflict

Resolution vs Solution

The first step to effectively solving a conflict is to understand the difference between a resolution and a solution. The conflict has a way of repeating itself over and over, especially if it is not addressed correctly.  Addressing a conflict correctly includes identifying the key differences between a resolution and a solution and using this …

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Valid Reasons to Get Out of a Subpoena

Valid reasons to get out of a subpoena

Finding a Way Out of a Subpoena? After receiving a subpoena, the first thing many people wonder is what valid reasons they could use to get out of a subpoena.  Being served with a subpoena can be an intimidating process if someone has not encountered it before, and not following the directions correctly can result …

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Making The Most of Appellate Mediation Opportunities

Appellate Mediation

I’ve been doing appellate mediation since the program began, and I’ve been genuinely surprised by the success rate. At the program’s inception, I anticipated a significantly lower success rate than I’ve had with non-appellate mediations — but it’s about 70%, which isn’t much lower than my rate for other matters. While my approach to conducting …

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Defining Partiality

Defining Partiality

How to define partiality? Within the alternative dispute resolution sphere, the word partiality, or more commonly impartiality, is used often, but for some new to the field, it can be difficult to define.  I t often feels like a type of action that would normally be easily identifiable, but in the world of alternative dispute …

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A Checklist for Mediation Opening Statements

A Checklist for Mediation Opening Statements

Opening statements in mediation set the tone for the rest of the mediation process. They open the mediation and begin the conciliatory process. Both the mediator and parties have the opportunity to set the stage for what they hope to accomplish and how they see the issues at hand. Because they hold so much power …

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Expectations Management At Work

Expectations Management At Work

By Zachary Ulrich Ever get mad at someone because they did something you didn’t expect? Of course you have, we all have. They’re not something we directly think about every day, but expectations are a key component of what drives many peoples’ behavior – including our own – all the time. When we sit down …

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