One of the most enjoyable aspects of the festive season is receiving and reading books that one might not have come across otherwise.
This year, I have been enjoying two quite contrasting works of literature. The …
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The Scotsman newspaper asserted in its editorial on Saturday 14 December that “Humility, respect and compromise can be good politics”. That is surely a welcome reflection on what now seems essential in our national life. …
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Scotland is having a referendum on its constitutional future. As I write this, it is exactly six months until we vote. Whatever the outcome in September's referendum about independence for Scotland, in this country we …
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Lawyers are as susceptible to errors in decision-making, and in giving advice to clients, as lay people, and this has a significant impact on the timing and quality of settlement of disputes. So we are …
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I recently conduced a mediation in the Middle East. It was a large commercial dispute. My learning from a rather new experience is this: •One needs to understand the local nuances
•Being able to show awareness of …
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Jonathan Trott's decision to leave the England Ashes touring party due to a stress-related illness was widely covered and with a degree of sympathy which marks a changing public awareness of the impact of mental …
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Take an example of creative problem-solving: there are two parties with claims and counter claims in a court action. They have a common problem: a major facility needs fixed. Further up the chain, it does …
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The recent death of Professor Roger Fisher of Harvard University, founder of the internationally-renowned Harvard Negotiation Project, has passed relatively unnoticed in this country. But for many of us who work in the field of …
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What is it that makes mediation such an effective process for so many disputes? Why do so many long-running conflicts reach a solution in a day of mediation? Is there some sort of magic in …
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I finished last week's post with this: Arguably we need to learn a new way of conversing, moving from debate to dialogue. What might this new learning involve? Here are some thoughts.
Undoubtedly, there is …
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