Author Archives: abfifer

President Obama, Mediator

April 9, 2013 – 4:14 pm

There was another apology in the news a couple weeks ago: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized on March 22 to Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a 2010 raid on a Turkish flotilla that killed 8 Turks. Any apology is news, but of even more interest to peacemakers is the fact that this was […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on President Obama, Mediator

Evaluating Another Public Apology

March 30, 2013 – 1:30 pm

Helping people make effective apologies is part of being a mediator and conflict coach, so it’s instructive to evaluate apologies. We had another public example this week from former CIA Director General David Petraeus, who began his speech to a group of veterans Tuesday with these prepared words: “Needless to say, I join you keenly […]

Posted in Apologies | Comments Off on Evaluating Another Public Apology

Guns in Mediation

February 1, 2013 – 3:41 pm

The nightmare that mediators have long dreaded has come true: a mediation party pulled out a gun this week and shot the other party at the close of a mediation. The parties had a contract dispute, and the plaintiff, a man named Arthur Harmon, had sued the defendant, Steven Singer, for $17,000. The mediation took […]

Posted in Learnings from Mediation | Comments Off on Guns in Mediation

Learning About Mediation from Being a Participant

January 22, 2013 – 1:47 pm

I had a unique mediation opportunity to last week: I was a participant (defense attorney) in a mediation. Here are eight things I learned about mediation: 1. It can be useful for the mediator to meet with the attorneys just before the start of the mediation. This gave the mediator an opportunity to hear each […]

Posted in Learnings from Mediation | Comments Off on Learning About Mediation from Being a Participant

Forgive Your Daughter’s Murderer?

January 7, 2013 – 3:51 pm

Forgiveness intrigues and intimidates me. I have trouble forgiving the clerk who charged me for a double latte when I got just a single, so the thought of forgiving someone who has committed a crime is intimidating. Jesus warned his followers that, if they didn’t forgive others’ offenses, God would not forgive them their own […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (2)