Dispute Settlement Counsel

Posts Tagged ‘Respect and civility’

Armando Galarraga, Pitcher for the Detroit Tigers

Armando Galarraga will likely never again pitch a perfect game as he did on June 2, 2010.  The law of averages doesn’t favor it, and no one has ever done it.  So in getting what should have been the final called out of a perfect game wrong, umpire Jim Joyce took away something that no amount of money could ever correct.  And even though there was overwhelming support in the sports world for the Commissioner of Baseball to turn a lose-lose situation into a win–win, overturn the ruling on the field and reinstate the perfect game, most of us also recognized that this particular commissioner lacked the courage to make that decision.

So how could this situation, a problem that needed to be solved, get fixed in a way that restored order, justice and peace in the baseball world, when there was no legal mechanism for doing so?  When the law cannot give you the solution the circumstances need, it reverts back to the people involved and spirit of making things right to take the situation into their hands, go outside of the box and turn typical into transformative.

That is exactly how this problem was fixed, by the graciousness by Mr. Galarraga, the act of apology by Mr. Joyce, and an act of collective acceptance and reinstatement by the community, represented the next day by the players and Detroit Tigers fans at the following game.

The next time some macho person suggests that apologies are for wimps, remind them of the more than perfect, perfect game of June 2, 2010.  Tell them that the one and only way that the situation could be corrected was by two grown men choosing to do the opposite of ego, and rise above ineffective position-taking responses of who is right and who is wrong.

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Often I hear attorneys giving their clients an admonition or expressing reservations about using alternative dispute resolution processes like mediation or collaborative law that usually goes something like this: “I don’t think mediation is such a good idea because it’s just a tool used by the other lawyer to obtain free discovery.”

Let’s analyze that statement, looking at it with a reasonable person’s perspective and logic. And let’s test the assumptions inherent in that statement to see if it makes sense. Is the risk of “free discovery” really a serious concern?

Is there anything really problematic with giving the other side “free discovery”? And if “free” discovery is not desirable, then exactly what kind of discovery do we prefer? The opposite of “free” discovery would logically be discovery that is either “paid” for, or one that takes longer and requires the other side to work harder to get. So who is “paying” for the discovery? (Hint: In litigation, if the other side is paying, chances are very good that you are paying too.) Put differently, is the notion of “free discovery” really a misnomer? Read the rest of this entry »

We took a break from our weekly blog entry in April to celebrate the Easter & Passover holidays. Personally, I took an extra week’s pause because my parents were visiting us from Wisconsin. And today, as I sat down to write this week’s blog, I recognize, as every Armenian undoubtedly does, that this day is Armenian Martyrs’ Day.

April 24 is a day of commemoration and remembrance, on which Armenians all over the world take pause to remember the tragic loss of 1.5 million Armenians killed senselessly in an act of failed Genocide by the Ottoman government early in the 20^th century. It is a historical fact that touches every Armenian family, each with our own oral and written history of how the massacres impacted our families. Each family resettled in places all around the world and began what is now known as the Armenian “Diaspora”, a network that powerfully connects me with every countryman of mine, wherever he or she may live.

Today, we recommit ourselves to joining forces of conscience with others who have suffered as victims of genocide, holocaust or ethnic cleansing. In some small way, each of us works to make sure that this kind of atrocity and human tragedy never happens again. Each of us is ingrained with the values of accountability for one’s actions, reconciliation, and perhaps the hardest but valuable acts of acceptance and forgiveness. 

On this day, we also honor the spirit and will of those who survived the Genocide, who settled in new lands and started over, carrying the torch of Armenian ethnic and religious tradition in their hearts and minds. We honor their accomplishment of replanting the essence of what it is to be Armenian in every corner of the world. Even in an unspeakable tragedy, there have been remarkably positive by-products. Today, my people are an international community, exchanging our culture, heritage, tradition and religion with other ethnic groups and nations, creating new Armenian communities wherever we settled. As the Armenian writer William Saroyan wrote:

Go ahead, destroy Armenia.  See if you can do it.  Send them into the dessert without bread or water.  Burn their homes and churches.  Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again.  For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a new Armenia.   Read the rest of this entry »

What exactly is social enterprise? We read about social capitalist businesses, green companies, and sustainable business practices. One of my favorite magazines, Fast Company, frequently awards top social enterprise businesses and offers stories about how these companies serve some greater purpose beyond making a profit. Recalling Paul Newman’s compelling question in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I wanted to find out more about exactly “Who are these guys?” It seems there is a natural synergy between resolving disputes using non-adversarial methods and the core values of social enterprise, but I wanted to explore how this synergy could be acted upon in productive ways. 

So recently (3/27/09), I attended the Eleventh Annual Symposium on Spirituality in Business, sponsored by Sustainable Business Network of Boston at Babson College in Wellesley. My purpose was to learn more about the notions of sustainable business and get to know and listen to people who owned and worked with social enterprise businesses. Among the businesses attending was the day’s honoree, Equal Exchange, based in West Bridgewater, MA., a sustainable business built on a model of taking care of employees to the extent that the employees genuinely own the company and make the decisions together.   Read the rest of this entry »

(last in this series of seven)

Last week, in discussing the value of confidentiality in dispute resolution, we noted that companies, organizations and individuals in disputes are not often motivated or focused on things like respect, civility, empathy, equity, fairness or just being gracious in our dealing with the other party to the dispute. In fact, some lawyers and some clients view the consideration of these notions as a sign of weakness and urge clients to just stick to the facts and the law.

The truth is, these elements go a long way toward creating a better environment for negotiation, establishing some trust, and ultimately reaching a more complete and lasting resolution.  Further, they are often at the core of those interests that are important to parties involved in sexual harassment, discrimination, medical error or family business disputes, along with the need for their views to be heard and considered, and the need to change a flawed workplace culture.   Read the rest of this entry »