CZH:

Thanks for the prior answer regarding family businesses.

Since I will be linking your info regarding family businesses on my
lawyer-related weblog, I would like to post additional information
regarding the use of mental health professionals IN LAW FIRMS and
other law entities such as law corporations. Law partners, as in any
endeavor, have disputes both among themselves and with their
associates. Therefore, I would like some citations regarding how mental health
personnel could be used to resolve disputes in law partnerships and
other law entities.

I suspect that many lawyers would be reticent to go with another lawyer (or
even alone) to a mental health professional. I would like something
that deals with how to overcome that barrier.

Also, I believe I remember that there was at least one article where a
psychologist went to a law firm business meeting to see the dynamics
among the lawyers and thus to see how they could interact better among
themselves. (Of course, no client confidences were discussed.) Could
you include that in your report?

Again, thanks for your earlier work.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 12 Jun 2003 17:58 PDT

Hello outoftheboxer1-ga,

I’m glad you liked my work on your earlier question. Thank you for
asking for me by name for this new question. I’ve done some
preliminary research and I’m not finding much information about mental
health professionals in law firms. Instead, I’ve found some material
on conflict resolution in the context of practice management that
might meet your needs.

In addition, I found a lot of material around issues of personal
mental health in the legal profession. This article will give you an
introduction to this topic.

http://www.texasbar.com/members/buildpractice/tlap/mental.asp
Lawyers and Mental Health
By Stephen L. Braun, LMSW, JD
(Originally published in The Houston Lawyer, May/June 1988)“

All practicing attorneys should take not of several frightening facts
and figures:
 -- Of 103 occupations studied in 1990 by John Hopkins researchers,
attorneys lead the nation in the incidence of depression.(3)
 -- Eleven percent of lawyers polled in North Carolina in 1991
admitted they consider taking their lives at least once a month.(4)
 -- An ABA Young Lawyers Division survey from the early 1990's
indicated that 41 percent of female attorneys were unhappy with their
jobs.(5)
 -- In 1996, lawyers overtook dentists as the professionals with the
highest suicide rate.(6)
 -- The ABA estimates that 15 to 20 percent of US lawyers suffer from
alcoholism or substance abuse.(7)
 -- In 1997, the Texas Lawyer’s Assistance Program (TLAP) estimated it
receives between 250 to 300 hotline calls per month from impaired
attorneys, or others concerned about them. Approximately 80 percent of
these attorneys suffer from alcohol or drug abuse. The other 20
percent suffer from depression, other mental illness, stress problems,
and physical impairments.(8)
 -- Seven in 10 lawyers responding to a 1992 California Lawyer
magazine poll said they would change careers if the opportunity
arose.(9)

As evidenced by these statistics, practicing law and maintaining good
mental and emotional health can be difficult for even the most
dedicated, balanced practitioner. Despite this difficulty and the
problematic environment for practicing law in the 1990's, attorney
mental health is critical in a society like ours that depends heavily
on its attorneys to enforce its rules and resolve its disputes. This
article provides and overview of the issues which typically influence
the mental well-being of lawyers and gives practical advise and
resources for dealing with overcoming issues.

Please let me know how to proceed. I think there are two separate
topics to address. 1) Conflict resolution in legal firms, and 2)
Mental health issues for the legal profession. Which of these do you
want me to answer for this question? I suggest that you post a new
question for whichever topic is left.

I look forward to completing these questions for you.

czh

---

Clarification of Question by outoftheboxer1-ga on 13 Jun 2003 05:33 PDT

czh,

I'm not sure what you meant by: "I’ve found some material
on conflict resolution in the context of practice management that
might meet your needs."

I am looking for information on conflict resolution specifically in
law firms. Therefore, I would like specific references to conflict
resolution in law firms. I want to write a specific article in my
www.outoftheboxlawyering.com weblog on how lawyers can use mental
health professionals to help resolve their conflicts among themselves.
Do you think you can find anything on that problem?

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 13 Jun 2003 10:46 PDT

Hello outoftheboxer1-ga,

I found two categories of information on conflict resolution in law
firms. The first category has to do with the impact of conflicts on
running the firm. The solutions offered are rarely framed in terms of
mental health and the practitioners who are used to help resolve
conflicts tend to be organizational development consultants,
communications trainers, or other relationship or organizational
advisors, coaches and consultants. The problem tends to be framed as
one of “practice management” and the role of mental health
practitioners is downplayed (even if they have the credentials) in
favor of taking an educative, rather than counseling, approach.

There is a role for mental health practitioners in law firms but they
tend to do with the problems of individual performance. I came across
lots of links for dealing with depression, drug and alcohol abuse,
family and work-life balance issues, and stress management for
lawyers. Mental health professionals are the preferred helpers for
these problems. These tend to be identified as helping with individual
performance and relationship problems instead of organizational ones
-- although the slipping performance of the individual clearly impacts
the organization.

Please let me know how you want me to proceed on covering the two
categories that I’ve identified. I look forward to completing this
project.

czh

---

Clarification of Question by outoftheboxer1-ga on 13 Jun 2003 18:50 PDT

This is the one I would like you to pursue -- what are the aids such
as you described that law firms have used:

"I found two categories of information on conflict resolution in law
firms. The first category has to do with the impact of conflicts on
running the firm. The solutions offered are rarely framed in terms of
mental health and the practitioners who are used to help resolve
conflicts tend to be organizational development consultants,
communications trainers, or other relationship or organizational
advisors, coaches and consultants. The problem tends to be framed as
one of “practice management” and the role of mental health
practitioners is downplayed (even if they have the credentials) in
favor of taking an educative, rather than counseling, approach."
 


Also, mediation has lately been used extensively in resolving
controversies, including general law suit litigation, to resolve
differences among parties. Therefore I would like to see something
that describes when mediation is better for solving conflicts and when
the use of the advisors and consultants is better.

Because of the relatively new use of mediators, material more than
three years old, before mediation became common, may not be helpful to
law firms which are deciding how to resolve their conflicts, so please
give current information.

I liked the listing you gave of family business helpers. I assume that
you have seen the same thing for the consultants and the trainers you
described here.

Please let me know if you need any further clarification.

Hello again outoftheboxer1-ga,

I’ve collected a large variety of resources for you to use in
exploring “out of the box” solutions for the lawyers in your weblog
audience. I’ve placed special emphasis on resources for mediation and
alternative dispute resolution. These techniques are increasingly used
for dealing with workplace issues and are definitely applicable to
legal firms. When looking for research on this topic as it affects
intra-company conflicts in law firms, I discovered that the subject is
usually covered under the topic of “practice management.” I also
discovered that there are legal and other consulting firms that
specialize in working with specific professions, including lawyers.
I’ve collected a variety of practitioners to give you a good overview
of what kinds of services are available. Finally, as I was conducting
my search I came across some excellent resource sites I’ve also
included to help with your further explorations.

I trust that this research will meet your needs. Please ask for
clarification if any of this is confusing.

Have fun with your weblog.

czh

===================================================================
ARTICLES -- MEDIATION, ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION, FACILITATION
===================================================================

http://www.albany.edu/cpr/gf/resources/mediation-facilitation.htm
Mediation and Facilitation 
A collection of material on compiled by 
Sandor P. Schuman, S.Schuman@Albany.edu

Mediation and facilitation are often used interchangeably in
describing the neutral role in multi-party situations.  At meetings of
professional mediators, those who work with multi-party disputes often
introduce themselves as a “mediator/facilitator.”  Surprisingly, this
is not the case at meetings of professional facilitators.
The terms mediation and facilitation are both applied to multi-party
situations where the role of the neutral is to help the parties reach
agreement.  In such situations, is there a real difference between
mediation and facilitation?  Is facilitation simply the application of
mediation to multi-party disputes?  Does mediator training differ
substantially from facilitator training?  If a “mediator” and a
“facilitator” were put in the same situation would they respond in
basically the same way?
This presentation brings into sharp focus the similarities and
differences between mediation and facilitation.  The history of the
development of each will highlight some of the assumptions that
underlie the behaviors of mediators and facilitators.  When to use
mediation vs. facilitation will be discussed.

http://www.gwsae.org/executiveupdate/2000/May/ElectronicIssue/Career2.htm
Using Mediation to Resolve Association Conflicts
Corporations, universities, government agencies, courts, international
entities, couples filing for divorce —all routinely turn to mediators
for a variety of reasons: to help them save money, settle arguments
quickly, generate face-saving and win-win outcomes, retain staff,
reduce lawsuits, increase compliance with an agreement and/or
generally help people get along in a variety of circumstances.
***** This article gives a good explanation of how organizations can
use mediation and alternative dispute resolution in the workplace.

http://www.acresolution.org/research.nsf/key-print/PR-ACRannounce?OpenDocument
Sep 21, 2001 -- New Association Formed to Represent Broad Array of
Conflict Resolution Professionals
Three Groups Merge to Form the Association for Conflict Resolution --
a Professional Organization Dedicated to Enhancing the Practice and
Public Understanding of Conflict Resolution
The term "conflict resolution" covers a wide range of activities and
skills that encourage disputing parties to find their own solutions to
their problems. The most common form of conflict resolution is
mediation, a process in which a neutral third-party facilitator helps
people in conflict communicate with each other and negotiate a
peaceful and mutually satisfying agreement.

http://www.lobo.net/~ergo/mediate/mp000.htm
Mediation and Other Services Offered by Mediation Professionals
Mediation is an alternative to suing in court (litigation) to resolve
a dispute between two or more people. It is a structured, private
discussion that is guided by trained, neutral parties. Mediators do
not take sides in the dispute or dictate how differences should be
resolved.

http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:8dBCKGPdEhIJ:www.ioma.com/showfile.php/816+internal+conflicts+in+legal+firms&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Do the Recent Law Firm Breakups Signal Trouble for the Legal
Profession?
For a host of legal pundits, the recent collapse of San Francisco
mainstay Brobeck Phleger & Harrison and San  Jose’s Skjerven Morrill,
coupled with the dissolution of Boston’s 107-year-old Hill & Barlow
last December, are indicative of a legal industry in distress. The New
York Times’ account of the Brobeck breakup contends that in today’s
economy, large law firms—long perceived as less susceptible to the ups
and downs that are a part of the daily reality for midsize firms—are
more vulnerable than ever to “Brobeck-like” issues. …

Mind your business—and your culture, too. PR’s interviews and
conversations with law firm leaders found most say now is the time to
take steps to guard against:

Unchecked internal conflicts. The risk of dissolution increases when
law firms lack a mechanism for resolving conflicts between partners.
Partners PR spoke with are well aware of the need for early
intervention, but still may ignore the hints of dissension. Remember:
In law firms, there’s always something new for dissimilar partners to
disagree about. You can’t count on partner conflicts simply resolving
themselves; conflict management requires round-the-clock attention.

http://www.resolutionworks.org/article_talkingitthrough.htm
Talking It Through
ABA Journal p. 64-67; February 1997; Law Practice 
Conflicts within a firm happen. But with some expert advice, lawyers
can learn to diffuse them.
Pushed by client demands and increased competition, lawyers often
ignore the conflicts simmering within. When those conflicts
surface—and they all eventually do—many choose to move on to different
practices, hoping for greener pastures. Others simply shut down
communications altogether, allowing personal disagreements to spill
over into their practice. …
As these conflicts proliferate, learning how to resolve them becomes
crucial. At its heart, conflict drains productivity and wastes
resources. Recognition of the value of productive workplaces has
become so important to businesses operating in the general economy
that companies are investing in conflict resolution training to
refocus their employees’ energies on the tasks at hand. …
Dispute Resolution Services Work
In Chicago, the principals of a three-lawyer firm sought counseling
from a psychologist with experience in resolving family business
disputes after their repeated clashes over personal style and
professionalism began to affect their personal satisfaction with their
work.

http://www.lawsocietyalberta.com/pubs_policies_reports/benchers/65/7.asp
Discrimination? Harassment? Or internal conflict? 
The days are long gone when you sent your warring employees “out back”
to settle disputes themselves, or you fired them to avoid any
problems. Conflict may be something we do not like, but the cost of
ignoring it is just too high. The conflict resolution spectrum
provides many different options to both employers and employees to
help find solutions for internal disputes – such as mediation, neutral
fact finding, and joint problem-solving.

http://www.normanpickell.com/links__businessadr.htm#3
Links  Business, Commercial, Corporate Law  Alternate Dispute
Resolution (ADR) in Business
**** This page offers a large collection of articles on ADR.

====================================================================
PRACTITIONERS -- CONSULTING, MEDIATION, DISPUTE RESOLUTION, TRAINING 
====================================================================

http://www.mediate.org/index.htm
Collaborative Decisions Resources Associates 
CDR Associates is a non-profit organization with over 25 years
experience in providing conflict resolution services, decision making
assistance, dispute resolution systems design, and training. We
provide these services domestically and internationally in six program
areas.

http://www.mediate.org/org_wrkplc.htm
Organizational and Workplace Conflict Management Programs
CDR provides six categories of service to a wide range of companies
and public agencies:
Design of dispute resolution systems 
Conflict resolution between groups, teams, or departments 
Conflict resolution between or among individuals 
Facilitated decision making 
Coaching assistance to managers 
Capacity-building through training and mentoring 

http://www.pdcounsel.com/about.html
PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT COUNSEL is a business development and
organizational effectiveness consulting and coaching firm serving law
and other professional service firms. Established in 1982, it was one
of the first to specialize in marketing for law firms and innovative
service quality programs. Practice Development Counsel works with
firms on strategic marketing planning, client relationship management,
training and coaching, collaborative culture, and workplace conflict
resolution, implementing flexibility and work/life excellence.

http://www.resolutionworks.org/conflict_resolution_articles.htm
For Lawyers
"In our training, there is almost an institutional lack of
perspective, skill and competence in quickly resolving conflicts and
moving on because the focus remains on the problem." Stewart Levine
***** See links to articles, books, workshops geared specifically to
lawyers.

http://www.franksanitate.com/workshops.html
Frank Sanitate Associates
The mission of Frank Sanitate Associates is to provide exceptional
educational services and products which transform people’s relation to
work.
FRANK SANITATE ASSOCIATES WORKSHOPS FOR LAWYERS – 2003
  Time Mastery/Time Management
  Law Practice Management 
  Communication/Conflict Resolution 
  Personal Skill Development
  Money Management 
  Effective Writing 

http://www.walkerclark.com/index.html
Walker Clark, LLC, provides consulting services to law firms and
corporate law departments worldwide.
http://www.walkerclark.com/short_guide_to_the_core_systems.htm 
A Short Guide to the Core Systems Walker Clark Core Systems Diagnostic
Law firms – even the smallest ones – are very complex organizations. 
Moreover, each law firm truly is a unique combination of client needs
and expectations, individual talents, management structures and
procedures, and workplace culture.
***** See especially: Governance and Decision Making, Internal
Communications, Performance Management

http://www.renaissancelawyer.com/
Renaissance Lawyer Society is a non-profit educational organization
created to address these issues, support innovation and transformation
in the legal profession, and support lawyers.   This web site is part
of our work of educating lawyers, legal educators, coaches who work
with lawyers, legal staff, the media, and the community, about the
movement toward creating a legal system that works for everyone,
restoring respect for it, and responding to the rapid change.

http://www.cmaservices.com.au/legal/about/wedo.html
CMA Legal
500 Collins Street Melbourne    
Tel: +61 3 9614 0333    
Fax: +61 3 9614 0555    
Email: enquiries@cmacentre.com.au
CMA was established in 1993, and provides a range of high quality
consulting and training services in negotiation, conflict management,
and dispute resolution. We also specialise in assisting lawyers to
build effective working relationships with their clients, colleagues
and other relationship partners.
Developed with the co-operation of professionals from the Harvard
Negotiation Project, CMA is an independent consulting and training
organisation with extensive experience in working with the legal
profession.

==================================================
RESOURCES -- ORGANIZATIONS, PUBLICATIONS, RESEARCH
==================================================

http://www.acresolution.org/
The Association for Conflict Resolution is a professional organization
dedicated to enhancing the practice and public understanding of
conflict resolution.
ACR represents and serves a diverse national and international
audience that includes more than 6000 mediators, arbitrators,
facilitators, educators, and others involved in the field of conflict
resolution and collaborative decision-making. Anyone interested in the
field of conflict resolution is welcome to join.

http://www.abanet.org/dispute/
The American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution provides
its members and the public with creative leadership in the dispute
resolution field by fostering diversity, developing and offering
educational programs, providing technical assistance, and producing
publications that promote problem-solving and excellence in the
provision of dispute resolution services.
***** This site offers a variety of resources, including publications
and a discussion forum.

http://www.cfdr.org/index.htm
Canadian Foundation for Dispute Resolution
The Canadian Foundation for Dispute Resolution is a nonprofit alliance
of business corporations and law firms in Canada working together to
promote the creative resolution of business disputes.
***** This is a portal site that offers a large collection of
resources.

http://www.cpradr.org/
CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution
CPR's mission is to spearhead innovation and promote excellence in
public and private dispute resolution, and to serve as a primary
multinational resource for avoidance, management and resolution of
business-related and other disputes.  To fulfill its mission, CPR is
engaged in an integrated agenda of research and development,
education, advocacy and dispute resolution. It is the leading
proponent of ADR that is managed by the parties and a highly qualified
neutral, or self-administered ADR.

http://www.pon.harvard.edu/about/main/index.php3
The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON) is an applied
research center committed to improving the theory and practice of
negotiation and dispute resolution. Put most simply, PON is working to
change the way people, organizations, and nations resolve their
disputes -- shifting the process from "win-lose" outcomes to
"all-gain" solutions.

http://www.pon.harvard.edu/research/projects/drp.php3
The Dispute Resolution Program promotes research and experimentation
on the ever-increasing array of alternative dispute resolution
mechanisms, with major emphasis on how these procedures are used as
part of the court system. With faculty based at the Harvard Business
School, the Program also focuses on organizational policies and
initiatives to resolve both external and internal disputes.

http://www.normanpickell.com/
Norman Pickell also acts as a Mediator and an Arbitrator in a wide
variety of conflicts.
***** See especially the large collection of links on Arbitration and
Mediation.

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787964344.html
Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Conflict: Lessons from
American Corporations for Managers and Dispute Resolution
Professionals
David B. Lipsky, Ronald L. Seeber, Richard Fincher
April 2003, Jossey-Bass
Emerging Systems of Managing Workplace Conflict presents illustrative
real-life examples as well as cutting-edge methods and tools for
integrating systems of dispute resolution into standard corporate
procedures. This vital resource investigates the systems organizations
have developed to manage common and costly workplace conflicts
involving supervisor-employee relationships; race, age, and gender
discrimination complaints; sexual harassment; occupational safety and
health; reasonable accommodation of the disabled; and wrongful
termination as well as other problems stemming from governmental
regulations and court actions.

http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787941921.html
Narrative Mediation: A New Approach to Conflict Resolution
John Winslade, Gerald Monk
January 2000, Jossey-Bass
In this groundbreaking book, John Winslade and Gerald Monk -- leaders
in the narrative therapy movement-introduce an innovative conflict
resolution paradigm that is a revolutionary departure from the
traditional problem-solving, interest-based model of resolving
disputes. The narrative mediation approach encourages the conflicting
parties to tell their personal "story" of the conflict and reach
resolution through a profound understanding of the context of their
individual stories. The authors map out the theoretical foundations of
this new approach to conflict resolution and show how to apply
specific techniques for the practical application of narrative
mediation to a wide-variety of conflict situations.

http://morningstaradr.com/bookstore.htm
We have EVERYTHING on conflict resolution.  Shop our convenient and
remarkably extensive MADR Online Bookstore for audio cassettes, books,
CD-ROMs, DVDs, ebooks, gifts, media products,  journal subscriptions,
software, and videos from communication and mediation to conflict
management.

===============
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===============

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