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LAST WILL AND EMBEZZLEMENT: Let's bring this documentary to Denver

Elder fraud is a despicable crime—and it is on the increase. One way to lessen its reach and impact is education. Fortunately, a new documentary is educating its viewers.

From the Web site of Last Will and Embezzlement:

[The documentary] features disturbing, first-hand accounts from real-life victims, including Hollywood icon Mickey Rooney, as well as in-depth interviews with experts who discuss such key issues as victim profiles, the perpetrators’ modus operandi, reasons for vulnerability, as well as potential solutions to this ever-increasing worldwide problem.

Our film is available to (and is already being utilized by) all scholastic, municipal, non-profit, or other organizations or entities who wish to conduct conferences or forums or classes to educate senior citizens as well as baby boomers so they don't become victims in the first place!  The Manhattan DA has it, Penn State Law School has it, Holy Cross College has it --- Please pass the word ..... and hopefully more will take advantage of this important resource.

To learn more, read "What Making a Documentary About Elder Fraud Taught Me" (Next Avenue). Excerpt:

As a filmmaker, I find that every day on set is a day of learning. I could never have imagined, however, the huge learning curve that would come with shooting the new documentary about the financial exploitation of the elderly, Last Will and Embezzlement.

The film grew out of the financial abuse of the parents of my business partner, Pamela Glasner. I had watched as Pamela helplessly fought for justice and failed to achieve it. The failing was most certainly not Pamela’s.

She suggested we make a documentary about the issue, and I readily agreed. And so, our unexpected and very emotional journey began.

What I learned as we progressed was that Pamela was far from alone. In fact, it seemed that everywhere we looked, people were raising their hand and saying, “It happened to me too.”

Click to read the rest.

I am hoping to find a way to bring this documentary to Denver. Let me know if you have suggestions for doing so, or would be interested in attending.

Interview of Mark Baumann about law and mediation

The first time I spoke at the Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference, I very much enjoyed spending some time with Mark Baumann. Because I valued that time, I was happy to read a recent interview of Mark. You may read it too . . .

From "An Integrated approach to a law and mediation career" (Examiner.com):

Q: I understand you practice law and mediation with a different approach?

Right. For the first 10 years of my practice I approached cases involving interpersonal problems in a typical lawyer fashion: finding the “facts", identifying the legal issues and applying the relevant law with logic to solve what appeared to be the problems. Then I had a case that taught me why that doesn’t always provide good outcomes --or real justice-- and about the significance of the human part of the equation.

A lot of times we are not fully aware of what our real needs are. Lawyers can help find those needs by deeply, compassionately, and non-judgmentally listening, and by respecting individual choice. When clients “feel understood” and respected, solutions tend to come much easier, and they tend be better solutions. And, this is especially true in difficult high conflict cases.

Q: Is there a model you use?

Click to read the rest.

Does the medical profession have a problem with respect? How about the legal profession?

Lack of respect for patients and coworkers may be a factor in mistakes made in healthcare settings. Is there a similar problem with respect lacking in the legal system? From "Why Patients Leave Hospitals With a Bad Taste In Their Mouths" (Pacific Standard online):

Disrespect, Lucian Leape believes, is the elephant in the hospital.

According to the adjunct professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health, disrespect is the reason why so many patients leave the E.R. feeling belittled or ignored. It’s why medical workers feel so “demoralized.” And it’s why—despite attempts at change in the last decade—we still see medical errors that cause needless suffering and even cost lives.

...

In a pair of papers published in July in the journal Academic Medicine, Leape and his co-authors outlined six categories of disrespect, ranging from the obvious to the subtle. On one end lies the overtly disruptive behavior: the angry outbursts, swearing, and bullying. More common is humiliating and demeaning treatment (by teachers to medical students, surgeons to nurses, physicians to patients). But there are also behaviors and

Article on mediation and empathy from Center for Understanding in Conflict

Posted with permission, from the October newsletter of Center for Understanding in Conflict. (Click for archives of newsletters and to subscribe to future editions.)

Mediation and the Movement towards Empathy

Many see a movement in the world toward greater empathy and understanding. We agree and view mediation as part of the evolution for humankind. Much has been written about this movement of humanity toward greater compassion; and while it is beyond the scope of this newsletter to recount this perspective, a 10 minute cartoon style video may be interesting to some to give one framework for these ideas-- http://youtu.be/l7AWnfFRc7g. For us, the growing acceptance of mediation, whether viewed locally or globally, holds the possibility and potential of greater empathy in the resolution of human conflict. Although it is by no means a sure thing.
 
Certainly there is abundant evidence in all societies and throughout the world that the urges toward domination, revenge, exclusion, greed, hatred and protection of oneself, one's family and one's group have enormous power and attraction. Historically, rights-based legal systems have provided a critical check on sheer power as the dominant form of dispute resolution and will continue to be central. Yet, the underlying impulses toward compassion, connection and empathy are also deeply present and suggest the possibility of another evolutionary step. These deeper human motivations are often available to us if the deeper desire is recognized and the possibility of expression supported. In this month's recommended book, In The Third Alternative, Steven Covey posits that the best solutions can only be reached when people are willing to be empathic -- including their own view as well as the other's in guiding the path toward resolution.
 
Can mediation be grounded in an empathetic response to conflict between people? We believe it certainly

Her life after law? She became a rabbinic chaplain

Before I moved to Santa Fe, I met with many New Mexicans in the fields in which I practiced, including both law and mediation. One of the people I met with was Barbara Levy. She was a lovely person and we maintained contact until I left New Mexico. In the intervening years since I left, she (now calling herself Miryam) moved east and studied to become a rabbinic pastor!

Miryam is now back in New Mexico, Santa Fe to be exact, and working for the Jewish Family Service of New Mexico. From Abq Jew:

Miryam leads a monthly group in the art of sacred Hebrew chanting in the style of Rabbi Shefa Gold. Her personal meditation and chanting practices provide the foundation and strength for her compassionate caring for others. She loves making art - particularly collage and altered books, freestyle dancing, and visiting with the sandhill cranes that winter over in the fields along the Rio Grande corridor. Miryam will expand the chaplaincy work currently done in Santa Fe hospitals, and plans to start a Santa Fe Grief and Loss Group.

Click to read the rest. Much has changed since she and I left the Land of Enchantment to follow new paths, and recommit to some old ones, too.

Click to read other stories of Life after Law.

Video: Robert Mnookin on "Bargaining with the Devil"

Click to watch a recent video of Professor Robert Mnookin speaking at Rhodes College in Tennessee. His talk begins at 14 minutes. From YouTube:

Harvard Professor Robert Mnookin is a leading expert in the field of conflict resolution. Mnookin has applied his interdisciplinary approach to negotiation and conflict resolution to a remarkable range of problems, including complex commercial disputes which involved advanced technologies and intellectual property. The lecture, which took place on February 7, 2012, was part of the Communities in Conversation Series at Rhodes College.

"Minding the Court: Enhancing the Decision-Making Process"

"Minding the Court: Enhancing the Decision-Making Process" is a white paper of the American Judges Association.

Extract from Executive Summary:

Scientists carefully study how our brain processes information, though judges rarely consider these studies. But this research has great potential significance to judges, who spend much of their time making decisions of great importance to others. Although the study of how the brain processes information is an evolving one, the information now available can help judges to make better decisions.

Much of the processing for simple tasks—called reflexive processing—occurs in the background, while most of us solve riddles or math problems through reflective processing, which is deliberate and conscious. The reflective system has a limited capacity, so we operate on a principle of least effort, tending to rely on the reflexive system when possible. To do so, we often use what scientists call schemas, in which characteristics of objects, people, or behaviors coalesce into an easily recognizable pattern (like our ability to tell that a red octagon in the distance is a stop sign).

Heuristics are schemas that are based on only part of the information available— letting us make decisions more quickly. But heuristics can be faulty in a variety of ways. And since heuristics (like all schemas) operate in the world of unconscious, reflexive processing, we can easily make errors without recognizing the source of a faulty decision. Anchoring is one of these heuristics: for example, a person is likely to give a higher or lower estimate of damages if a particularly high (or low) figure is introduced early in the process. That number—even if far off the mark—tends to act as an anchor around which later estimates are formed.

Implicit biases, another type of schema, also threaten fair processes and just outcomes. They are based on implicit attitudes or stereotypes that operate below the radar, and judges have been shown susceptible to them as well.

But most behaviors and decisions result from a combination of both reflexive and reflective processes, so there are ways to lessen the effects of faulty heuristics and implicit biases. One step

US District Court Judge John Kane discusses sin, liberty, and the law

Click to listen to a talk given for Judge Kane to Colorado radio station KVNF. The talk is titled "Sin, Liberty, and the Law." He's introduced by Sally Kane, his daughter and the executive director of KVNF.

Be sure to listen to the question-and-answer session, too. Judge Kane says much of interest, including that, in the last 30 years, our nation has lost its moral compass.

Another reason why a sense of control may be beneficial: If leaders feel in control, they may experience less stress

"...if leaders ... experience a heightened sense of control—a psychological factor known to have powerful stress-buffering effects—leadership should be associated with reduced stress levels."

That sentence is taken from the abstract of a new study of stress levels in leaders. Perhaps, instead of implementing stress reduction measures, organizations should be focusing on promoting the employee's sense of control?

The news release from Stanford University:

More authority means less stress, say Stanford and Harvard psychologists

In a study of high-ranking government and military officials, Stanford psychologist James Gross and a Harvard team found that a higher rank was associated with less anxiety and lower levels of a stress hormone.

BY MAX MCCLURE

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" is that rare thing – a Shakespearean quote embraced by the world of management. The high-powered but perpetually tense leader is a trope from Wall Street to the Pentagon. The idea of "executive burnout" has inspired a cottage industry of stress management directed toward government and corporate leaders.

But the top seat may be more comfortable than leaders have been suggesting. A study from Stanford psychology Professor James Gross and Jennifer Lerner, a professor of public policy and management at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, suggests that leadership positions are, in fact, associated with lower levels of stress.

The paper appeared today (Sept. 24) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Stress metrics

"We live as social beings in a stratified society," Gross said. "It's our relative status in a group that disproportionately influences our happiness and well-being."

Specifically, a growing literature suggests that more power is associated with less stress. The Whitehall studies of health in the British civil service showed that higher governmental rank was strongly correlated with lower mortality rates. Stanford biology professor Robert Sapolsky's measurements of the stress hormone cortisol in baboons showed lower levels of the hormone in high-ranking troop members.

The new Stanford-Harvard study looked at both cortisol measurements and self-reported anxiety levels within a rarely studied group: high-ranking government and military officials enrolled in a Harvard executive leadership program.

Although evaluating stress is itself complex – cortisol levels and reported anxiety are not necessarily correlated – the researchers found

Interview of Judith Fein: Increasing self-awareness through travel

Today I am talking with Judith Fein, international travel journalist and author of the book Life is a Trip: The Transformative Magic of Travel. (Read her blog posts here.)

Judie, thanks very much for agreeing to participate in my series of interviews of thinkers and practitioners who have ideas that are valuable for the legal profession.

Let's start with your telling us the story of how you became a travel writer. What drew you to this profession?

I had no idea that travel writing was a profession, but I have always been a traveler and a writer. My last incarnation involved writing movies and TV in Hollywood--which everything thinks is very glamorous because you get to party, eat and hang with the Hollywood set, but trust me when I say that for me it was less glam than wearing a cardboard box to observe weeds growing. It sucked the soul out of me--whoosh-- and I rumbled around wondering why I was doing it for l3 years. The actual writing was fine, but the abuse, dysfunction, craziness, and head-banging frustration finally made me say, "Basta." And once I had really basta-ed, I had no idea what else to do for a living. I was, as they say in French, "entree deux chaises," between two chairs. My butt was hanging out uncomfortably, not sure where to sit in life.

One day my sister called and said there was a new travel show on national public radio--called "The Savvy Traveler."   I knew it was next-to-impossible to get a gig, but, at my sister's New York-style urging, I recorded a crazy story about what happened when I checked into a monastery for a silent retreat, and ending up having a food fight with a nun and almost getting arrested on a dark road. I sent in the piece, and four days later they called to invite me to be a regular contributor on the show.

Hmm, I thought, after a while. Maybe since i have a national presence I can ask a newspaper if they're interested in one of my travel stories. Bingo! Then I queried other newspapers, magazines, and pretty soon I was a real travel writer. I expanded to the web early on, and have never looked back.

Thanks, Judie. Your response made me think about how I define profession. Most of the readers of this blog are practitioners of the law, a traditional notion of profession. But, now that I think about it, I see the word as including the sense of calling, or the embodiment or product of something you are professing to the world. Of course, many lawyers don't feel called to the practice, and are unhappy. Many of these unhappy, stressed