Structured Negotiation Articles

Structured Negotiation Articles

This topic includes posts about Structured Negotiation and about the people, issues, and themes in Lainey Feingold's Structured Negotiation book. If you are looking for cases that have been resolved in Structured Negotiation, please visit the Settlements page on this website. For Structured Negotiation articles Lainey has written for other publications, please visit the Writings Page.

Becky (Welz) Griffith (1971 – 2015)

Posted on Updated on September 28, 2020
Becky Griffith was a valuable member of the blind community and a valued Structured Negotiations participant. She died earlier this month at the too-young age of 44. Becky was a claimant in successful Structured Negotiations with Safeway grocery chain. (A Structured Negotiations claimant is the equivalent of a plaintiff in a lawsuit. We use different terminology to emphasize that Structured Negotiations is a collaborative, not an adversarial process.) The Safeway effort convinced the company to upgrade its online grocery shopping site to satisfy the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Level AA so blind people (and everyone else) can use it. In this post you can read more about her participation in the Safeway negotiations, and about the qualities that made Becky a strong advocate for the rights of blind people. Read more… Becky (Welz) Griffith (1971 – 2015)

When all You Have is a Hammer

Posted on Updated on September 28, 2020
Over the holidays I took a walk along San Francisco’s iconic Haight Street. When I saw a giant hammer mounted on the Roberts Hardware sign (included in this post) I knew I wanted to write about one of my favorite Structured Negotiation themes. “When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail” is an idea that appears in my book on page three. Read more… When all You Have is a Hammer

Why a Dolphin?

Posted on
My website just got a refresh and a dolphin swam into the header. Did I convert my law practice to an aquarium? Did I move to Miami? I did not. Many people think lawyers should act like sharks. I have chosen the dolphin instead. Dolphins collaborate and have good communication skills. That’s the kind of lawyer I try to be. Read more… Why a Dolphin?

Structured Negotiation Helps Parties Focus on Accessible Tabletop Kiosks

Posted on Updated on September 12, 2020
In January, 2018 the Applebee’s restaurant chain, kiosk maker E la Carte, Inc., and the National Federation of the Blind and LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired announced a partnership. The collaboration worked to make E la Carte’s table-top ordering and payment kiosk accessible to blind people. The system is used in Applebee’s restaurants… Read more… Structured Negotiation Helps Parties Focus on Accessible Tabletop Kiosks

Structured Negotiation helps parties resolve claims of blind Medi-Cal IHSS Recipients

Posted on Updated on August 28, 2020
In February, 2017 California disability rights organizations announced what they termed a “novel settlement” with the State of California. The settlement, reached in Structured Negotiation, guaranteed that blind state Medi-Cal In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) recipients received important government information in formats they could read, including braille, large print, and accessible electronic documents. Read the press… Read more… Structured Negotiation helps parties resolve claims of blind Medi-Cal IHSS Recipients

Lawyers Need Soft Skills: A Book Review

Posted on Updated on June 10, 2020
Chapter 16 of Structured Negotiation, A Winning Alternative to Lawsuits is about traits like patience, trust, and optimism that lawyers need to resolve problems without litigation. I have now discovered Soft Skills for the Effective Lawyer – a book that is like my Chapter 16 on steroids plus so much more. It should be mandatory reading for every lawyer, law student, law professor, and CLE provider. Read more… Lawyers Need Soft Skills: A Book Review

LGBTQ Activists, Their Lawyers, and Lyft Use Structured Negotiation to Improve Services

Posted on Updated on September 6, 2019
When persons who were gender-nonconforming or appearing in drag were not picked up by Lyft drivers in San Francisco, they turned to Structured Negotiation to improve the company’s policies and resolve their discrimination claims. This summer the advocacy strategy paid off — no lawsuit needed. At the end of July the claimants announced they had… Read more… LGBTQ Activists, Their Lawyers, and Lyft Use Structured Negotiation to Improve Services

Structured Negotiation Helps Washington Advocates Improve Jail Conditions

Posted on Updated on August 16, 2019
Congratulations to the Amplifying Voices of Inmates with Disabilities (AVID) project at Disability Right’s Washington. The group was recently honored for its work in improving conditions for inmates with mental illness and other cognitive disabilities in Yakima County Jail. AVID used Structured Negotiation to engage the County Jail and negotiate a settlement agreement. According to… Read more… Structured Negotiation Helps Washington Advocates Improve Jail Conditions