Menu
Neuroscience
How Lawyers’ Intuitions Prolong Litigation
July 26, 2013
Most lawsuits settle, but some settle later than they should. Too many compromises occur only after protracted discovery and expensive motion practice. Sometimes the delay precludes settlement altogether. Why does this happen? Several possibilities--such as the alleged greed of lawyers paid on an hourly basis--have been suggested, but they are insufficient to explain why so many cases do not settle until the eve of trial. We offer a novel account of the phenomenon of settling on the courthouse...
July 26, 2013
Most lawsuits settle, but some settle later than they should. Too many compromises occur only after protracted discovery and expensive motion practice. Sometimes the delay precludes settlement altogether. Why does this happen? Several possibilities--such as the alleged greed of lawyers paid on an hourly basis--have been suggested, but they are insufficient to explain why so many cases do not settle until the eve of trial. We offer a novel account of the phenomenon of settling on the courthouse...
DEMO: Picture It Settled® with Don Philbin (ADRtoolbox): “Scarily Accurate!”
July 25, 2013
In this 44th episode of the Conflict Specialists Show, Dave Hilton gets a live demo of the Picture It Settled® software...
July 25, 2013
In this 44th episode of the Conflict Specialists Show, Dave Hilton gets a live demo of the Picture It Settled® software...
Inside Brains of Winners
July 11, 2013
Everyone knows a name dropper when they hear one. Buzz names like Gates, Jiwei, Jobs, Nooyi, Zuckerberg and Winfrey can give dramatic pause to a conversation and pique collegial interest. But their mere mention can also throw a name dropper under the credibility bus quicker than they can say “My cousin was college roommates with J.K. Rowling’s agent’s sister.” If you’re in the know, you’ve already gathered that success is more about the brain than ever before. Cognitive neuroscience...
July 11, 2013
Everyone knows a name dropper when they hear one. Buzz names like Gates, Jiwei, Jobs, Nooyi, Zuckerberg and Winfrey can give dramatic pause to a conversation and pique collegial interest. But their mere mention can also throw a name dropper under the credibility bus quicker than they can say “My cousin was college roommates with J.K. Rowling’s agent’s sister.” If you’re in the know, you’ve already gathered that success is more about the brain than ever before. Cognitive neuroscience...
Med Students Learn How Graphics Can Effectively Communicate: Why Not Mediators?
July 8, 2013
Those of you who have been following with me the pictograph path (using images to communicate) may guess that I was happy to learn of a program at Penn State College of Medicine. From the Penn State Web page:Since 2009, fourth-year medical students at Penn State College of Medicine have created comics as part of a course called “Graphic Storytelling and Medical Narratives.” The course was developed to show fourth-year medical students how graphics and text can be used to effectively communicate...
July 8, 2013
Those of you who have been following with me the pictograph path (using images to communicate) may guess that I was happy to learn of a program at Penn State College of Medicine. From the Penn State Web page:Since 2009, fourth-year medical students at Penn State College of Medicine have created comics as part of a course called “Graphic Storytelling and Medical Narratives.” The course was developed to show fourth-year medical students how graphics and text can be used to effectively communicate...
Pricing and Framing: When Are We Likely to Pay More for Products?
July 8, 2013
I think by this time almost every marketing strategy is tried as to how goods are priced: We are told that today is the last day of the sale; we are given the price at which the good was previously sold (this was $20 and now it's $14.95); or Gap tells us that the 30% off is for 4 days only (right). I want to write about one strategy firms use to increase the sale of a product. This strategy involves framing: the product is presented in the context of other, related products. We'll see that "relativity"...
July 8, 2013
I think by this time almost every marketing strategy is tried as to how goods are priced: We are told that today is the last day of the sale; we are given the price at which the good was previously sold (this was $20 and now it's $14.95); or Gap tells us that the 30% off is for 4 days only (right). I want to write about one strategy firms use to increase the sale of a product. This strategy involves framing: the product is presented in the context of other, related products. We'll see that "relativity"...
Failure Makes You a Winner
June 23, 2013
“The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles.”—Garth Stein What quality does the Buddha share with Luke Skywalker and Joan of Arc? What links Harriet Tubman with Harry Potter? It has nothing to do with enlightenment or magic. It has to do with struggle. These heroes share a key quality: GRIT. There has been some discussion in the media recently about grit, but many people, especially parents, have been asking me what the term...
June 23, 2013
“The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles.”—Garth Stein What quality does the Buddha share with Luke Skywalker and Joan of Arc? What links Harriet Tubman with Harry Potter? It has nothing to do with enlightenment or magic. It has to do with struggle. These heroes share a key quality: GRIT. There has been some discussion in the media recently about grit, but many people, especially parents, have been asking me what the term...
Use Your Mind to Change Your Brain
June 21, 2013
I realized today that in all my posts regarding the brain and how to sculpt it with mindfulness, I’ve never actually explained how and why meditation works. Specifically, the science behind how your brain changes the longer you meditate. I think this is important for many reasons, but one of the most salient is that this information serves as a great motivator to keep up a daily practice (or start one). I’m sure you’ve heard people extol the virtues of meditation. You may be skeptical...
June 21, 2013
I realized today that in all my posts regarding the brain and how to sculpt it with mindfulness, I’ve never actually explained how and why meditation works. Specifically, the science behind how your brain changes the longer you meditate. I think this is important for many reasons, but one of the most salient is that this information serves as a great motivator to keep up a daily practice (or start one). I’m sure you’ve heard people extol the virtues of meditation. You may be skeptical...
The Benefits of Mindfulness for Litigators
June 21, 2013
“I am calling for an all-out revolution.” These words reverberated through the federal district courthouse in Miami in the spring of 2012, but there was no one calling for security. In fact, it was eerily quiet in the conference room in which the call for revolution was sounded. How can that be? Well, the audience was a group of well-regarded litigation counsel and judges and the revolutionary leader a prominent federal district court judge. The revolution: Mindfulness in law as a vehicle...
June 21, 2013
“I am calling for an all-out revolution.” These words reverberated through the federal district courthouse in Miami in the spring of 2012, but there was no one calling for security. In fact, it was eerily quiet in the conference room in which the call for revolution was sounded. How can that be? Well, the audience was a group of well-regarded litigation counsel and judges and the revolutionary leader a prominent federal district court judge. The revolution: Mindfulness in law as a vehicle...
The Neuroscience of Decision Making and Our Standards for Assessing Competence to Consent
June 17, 2013
Rapid advances in neuroscience may enable us to identify the neural correlates of ordinary decision making. Such knowledge...
June 17, 2013
Rapid advances in neuroscience may enable us to identify the neural correlates of ordinary decision making. Such knowledge...
What Neuroscience Can Teach Us About Settlement Negotiations
June 17, 2013
There is much that the latest developments in neuroscience can teach legal professionals about negotiations. This is particularly true when it comes to how people process information and make decisions. Mediators and lawyers alike can benefit particularly from what neuroscientists have revealed about priming and framing, two potent filtering mechanisms that can either inflame the emotional barriers to settlement or potentially defuse them.
June 17, 2013
There is much that the latest developments in neuroscience can teach legal professionals about negotiations. This is particularly true when it comes to how people process information and make decisions. Mediators and lawyers alike can benefit particularly from what neuroscientists have revealed about priming and framing, two potent filtering mechanisms that can either inflame the emotional barriers to settlement or potentially defuse them.
