by Marty Price, J.D.

You represent a client who is accused of embezzling several thousand dollars from his employer. The employer is a small business where he has worked for a number of years in a position of trust and responsibility.

The business owner is shocked and outraged. Your client has no criminal record and has admitted to you that he stole the money to pay off a gambling debt. You see no plausible defenses.

Upon your advice, he has plead “not guilty” in the hope of obtaining a favorable plea bargain.

This is but one of many examples of a case of a serious (or not so serious) offense in which society has little or no need to exact retribution from the offender and, likewise, little or no need to punish for the sake of deterrence. Realistically, harm was done only to the victim. If an agreement could be reached, by which:

1. the offender would take meaningful responsibility for the harm done by restoring the victim’s losses, and by which,
2. the offender could demonstrate his remorse and become reconciled with the victim,

then most would agree that the state’s scarce justice dollars would be better spent prosecuting another offender who, absent remorse and meaningful responsibility, presents a genuine threat to the public.

This is the philosophy of restorative justice, rather than retributive justice, and it is from this philosophy that Victim Offender Reconciliation Programs (VORP) and Victim Offender Mediation Programs were born, about fifteen years ago.

Click this link to read the entire article

Daniel Baldwin recently prepared a white paper regarding Mortgage Mediation to support the Florida Governor’s HOPE Task Force on mortgage foreclosure.

The purpose of the report, the entire HOPE project for that matter, is that individuals and financial organizations will consider new ideas and concepts that may provide practical solutions to the very serious problems associated with mortgage foreclosures and their psychological as well as financial impact on the America Dream of home ownership.

I am presenting it here because of its importance as well as to illustrate yet another area where mediation and conflict resolution are being employed.

Read the entire white paper here…

Mortgage Mediation Proposal
By: Daniel Baldwin, Mediator/Arbitrator/Umpire/Licensed Mortgage Broker

MANAGING WORKPLACE CONFLICTS THROUGH PREVENTIVE MEDIATION SYSTEMS/TOOLS
                                                                                                                        Article by: James Kofi Addo
By means of our associations, task interrelations and interdependence, workplace settings are fertile breeding ground for conflicts. The dynamics and interdependence of employee/employee and employee/employer relationship call to mind this critical question; why do conflicts arise and what we can do to prevent them from ruining inter and intra workmates relationships.     

                                                    
Recognizing and addressing the factors that give rise to the potential conflict through effective conflict resolutions systems institutionalization in organizations can have a positive impact on industrial harmony, team work and cohesion and productivity.

Understanding Conflict
I share DR. Dana’s definition of conflict which relates to the workplace. Conflict occurs when people who are task interdependent and one or both feels angry, find fault with the other and use behaviors that causes a business problem.

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It should not be a surprise to anyone that whenever there’s construction there’s a possibility for conflict.

And you don’t have to be Donald Trump to have disputes with lease holders, land owners, vendors, contractors, zoning commissions, or planning boards.

In fact whether you are building an office tower, your dream house, or your child’s tree house - the possibility of running afoul of one regulation or another should be front and center in your mind.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that there is a professional dispute resolution firm that specializes in both residential and commercial construction disputes and is available to conduct mediations and/or arbitrations anywhere in the United States and in selected foreign countries. 

One that also provides construction specialists and expert witnesses for any form of dispute resolution including civil litigation and provides experts to serve on Dispute Review Boards and Construction Settlement Panels for major construction projects. 

Peter G. Merrill, the firm’s President & CEO, and a foundational member of our online interactive community of conflict resolution and mediation professionals, regularly receives requests from various major construction trade magazines and from various trade associations and organizations to write articles for their newsletter or magazine.

Here are over a dozen insightful articles published in construction related industry journals. The best way to avoid your next construction dispute (or work through your current one) may be found in one of his well thought out articles. http://www.constructiondisputes-cdrs.com/articles_by_peter_merrill.htm

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