Structured Negotiation Articles

Mindful Lawyers: First Meditation Conference for Lawyers

Close to 200 lawyers, judges and law students gathered at the University of California Berkeley Law School this past weekend for the first ever Mindful Lawyer Conference. The goal? To help the legal profession explore how contemplative practice — the meditative perspective — can benefit not just individual lawyers but anyone touched by the legal system, and even the system itself. Read more… Mindful Lawyers: First Meditation Conference for Lawyers

Gratitude for a Poached Egg (an Accessibility and Negotiation Strategy)

Whenever I travel, I try to eat in local restaurants serving traditional foods. That’s how I found myself at 417 Union in Nashville last month eating poached eggs, grits and a biscuit. The eggs were perfect and I asked the waitress to thank the cook for me. She came back later and told me: “His day is going to go a lot better now that he knows he done good.” Her comment sums up my experience as a negotiator in the digital accessibility space. Everyone wants to know they have “done good.” Telling them so is a powerful negotiating strategy. Read more… Gratitude for a Poached Egg (an Accessibility and Negotiation Strategy)

Lawyers as Peacemakers: ABA Publishes Comprehensive Resource

The book review posted here was first published in the Book Review Thursday section of the San Francisco-based on-line publication BeyondChron. The book, written by lawyer J. Kim Wright and published by the American Bar Association, is titled Lawyers as Peacemakers: Practicing Holistic, Problem-Solving Law. The cover graphic shows a white dove of peace, olive… Read more… Lawyers as Peacemakers: ABA Publishes Comprehensive Resource

Lawyers as Changemakers: The Global Integrative Law Movement

The New York Times ran a powerful obituary on July 26, 2017 about Scharlette Holdman, an unsung woman who devoted her life to inmates on death row. The obituary described those who sought to emulate Holdman’s career by saying “Many mitigation specialists who followed in her footsteps are journalists and social workers. ‘It’s the antithesis of being a lawyer; it’s all about human feeling and connection..'” Is that true? Is human feeling and connection the “antithesis” — the opposite — of being a lawyer? Read more… Lawyers as Changemakers: The Global Integrative Law Movement

Chicago Structured Negotiation and Digital Access Events in October ’17

This post has information about Lainey Feingold’s Fall speaking events in Chicago. Lainey will be presenting at the Chicago Digital Accessibility and Inclusive Design MeetUp, at a free CLE for lawyers sponsored by Equip for Equality and JPMorgan Chase, and at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law with Chicago. disability rights lawyer Andres Gallegos. She is excited to return to Chicago, and is grateful for friends and colleagues in the Windy City making this trip possible. Read more… Chicago Structured Negotiation and Digital Access Events in October ’17

Web Accessibility for Grocers: Winn-Dixie Wasn’t Paying Attention

Last month the Winn-Dixie grocery chain lost the very first trial under the Americans with Disabilities Act about the accessibility of a private company’s website. A blind shopper had sued the chain when he couldn’t access online coupons and other parts of the company’s website. The judge’s verdict was big news; unlike most accessibility stories it was covered in the mainstream media. But web accessibility for grocery stores is nothing new. If Winn-Dixie had been paying attention, it would have known over three years ago that grocery chains were making their websites accessible. Winn-Dixie should not have waited for the legal knock on the door. When it came, it should not have put up a fight. Read more… Web Accessibility for Grocers: Winn-Dixie Wasn’t Paying Attention

ABA Journal Highlights Structured Negotiation

Catching flies with honey is not the default strategy most attorneys use to resolve disputes. But Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian, both longtime California advocacy lawyers, have worked out a method that avoids conflict, costly litigation and protracted time in court—while still yielding beneficial results for their clients. The process they call “structured negotiations” has been used mainly to achieve improved access for the blind, including ATM machines that talk, websites embedded with code to decipher text and photos, and tactile point-of-sale devices in grocery stores. Read more… ABA Journal Highlights Structured Negotiation

Structured Negotiation Talks in Toronto and Windsor

It will be cold, but it will be fun! From February 7 – February 10 Lainey Feingold will be speaking at several events in Toronto and Windsor Canada about her book Structured Negotiation a Winning Alternative to Lawsuits and about the state of digital accessibility law and advocacy in the United States. Most of these events, described below, are open to the public. A huge thank you to David Lepofsky for organizing Lainey’s trip, and for Osgoode Hall Law School for sponsorship. Read more… Structured Negotiation Talks in Toronto and Windsor

2008 Structured Negotiations Highlights

2008 was the 14th year that Structured Negotiations were used to resolve class-wide disability access claims without litigation. This year, the Law Office of Lainey Feingold and co-counsel Linda Dardarian negotiated five new agreements using the Structured Negotiations process, and Lainey and co-counsel Amy Peterson of Equip for Equality in Illinois negotiated one new agreement. Linda and Lainey continued monitoring agreements signed in previous years, and were also involved in other Structured Negotiations that we hope will result in settlement agreements in 2009. Read more… 2008 Structured Negotiations Highlights