By David J. Abeshouse

Civility is – and should be – a core negotiation issue.  The degree to which one employs ordinary civility in negotiations often has a marked effect on the bottom line result. It also makes life more pleasant, even in the fundamentally adversarial situations in which business litigators and transactional lawyers often find themselves. Consider the opposing party or counsel who -- instead of working with you to resolve a dispute or problem in customized, mutually acceptable fashion -- prematurely blurts out, “I’ll see you in court.” This knee-jerk reaction usually fails as a negotiation tactic...

Guest Post by David Abeshouse, Law Office of David J. Abeshouse. 

At the dawn of history, human beings resolved disputes in ways not so far removed from those of their mammalian and reptilian forebears. Progressing over the centuries, society developed increasingly sophisticated and customized dispute resolution mechanisms. The American court system has been our forum for settling disagreements. This mostly worked, for a century or so. Early in the 20th century, new alternatives arose in reaction to many of the defects of our judiciary, and others globally. Now, 90 years later, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR – including arbitration and mediation) has a firm and deservedly growing foothold in our business dispute resolution landscape, domestically and globally.

The vast majority of recent United States Supreme Court decisions encourage greater use of ADR in business cases. However, ADR is not yet sufficiently widespread in the opinion of those who see it as a better way to resolve more business conflicts without enduring onerous court procedures before an overworked judiciary...

Guest Post by David Abeshouse, Law Office of David J. Abeshouse.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be telling you this (you’ll see why in a moment), but I think you ought to know. 

Many start-ups, professional practices, and other small businesses lack line-items in their budgets for legal representation.  But they place themselves (and their owners) in considerable peril when they forego having solid written business agreements.  Owners of businesses and professional practices often assume that they have workable understandings with their vendors, associates, and partners.   These assumptions often are misguided, because even the process of negotiating an agreement reveals possible future pitfalls and misconceptions that should be addressed now, before they become mortal issues.  Lack of a written agreement often means there hasn’t been a true meeting of the minds.