Description:

Every mediator knows that there are a variety of paths the parties can take to resolving their conflicts through mediation: pre-mediation calls, mediation statements, private caucuses, joint sessions, and post-mediation conversations.  Few of us have given adequate consideration, however, to what factors should shape the specific process used in each particular mediation.  Most mediators have a standardized way of proceeding, without regard to the specific substantive and inter-personal factors involved in the dispute.

Frederick Hertz will facilitate a discussion on the challenges of determining what is the most productive mediation process to use, focusing on the psychological dynamic of the parties, the communication challenges experienced by the attorneys, the history of negotiations prior to the mediation, and the nature of the substantive issues in dispute.  The discussion will also focus on how best to engage the parties and the attorneys in a thoughtful approach to process design, including the ever-present concerns about timing, fees, and decision-making.

Discussion Leader

Frederick Hertz graduated from Berkeley Law School in 1981, clerked with the Minnesota Supreme Court, and subsequently received a Master’s Degree in Urban Geography from the University of California, Berkeley.  Mr. Hertz is an attorney/mediator whose work focuses on the resolution of disputes involving real estate and family matters, including the dissolution of marital and non-marital relationships and those of extended families, siblings and parents.  He provides transaction and negotiation counsel and also serves as a mediator and arbitrator in these areas.  Mr. Hertz writes and speaks nationally on the laws affecting unmarried couples.  Mr. Hertz has appeared as a panelist for the California Continuing Education, Rutter Group, The California CPA Foundation, California State Bar, and Bar Association of San Francisco and American Bar Association programs.  He has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Today Show, All Things Considered, and Talk of the Nation, and is often quoted in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Advocate, and other national publications.

Fred Hertz is currently on Board of The Mediation Society and is its immediate Past President.