POWER TOOLS AND MAGIC KEYS I:Introduction, Necessity of conflict diagnosis, Using conflict diagnosis

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Conflict Management HRM624

Lesson 42

POWER TOOLS AND MAGIC KEYS I

Quotation

With the world becoming a smaller and more vulnerable place, we have no choice to continue to engineer

an increasingly effective array of alternative tools for dealing with interpersonal conflict.

Lauri S. Coltri

There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.

Victor Hugo

"A camel is a horse designed by a committee" Anonymous

We will learn in this lecture

1. The potential for conflict diagnosis to improve the delivery of legal services.

2. The ethical and practical issues that complicate the use of conflict diagnosis by lawyers and legal

assistants.

3. The ethical obligation of lawyers to advise their clients of ADR options and the scope of this

obligation.

4. Approaches to lawyering that incorporate the ideas advanced in this text book, including client-

centred lawyering and collaborative law.

5. How to use conflict diagnosis to develop effective strategies and tactics for representing legal

disputants.

6. A leading approach to selecting a dispute resolution process and provider, known as fitting the

Forum to the Fuss.

7. An alternative approach to selecting a dispute resolution process and provider, suggested by the

principles of conflict diagnosis.

Introduction

You have been introduced until now with the conflict diagnosis, a theory based set of skills. As a stand

alone technique, conflict diagnosis is a practical method of understanding and analyzing interpersonal

conflict, particularly legal disputes. After reading this course you must have recognized that you are now

able to use less destructive and useful approaches to resolving conflicts.

Necessity of conflict diagnosis

Conflict diagnosis is mentally challenging and time consuming. That is why most lawyers would say that

conflict diagnosis is not necessary. And that the efforts to develop an understanding of underlying interests,

sources of conflict, personal power, and the need to preserve relationships and trust are in the domain of

the client alone. However some will say yes it is necessary. The reason is that the invisible veil will always

hide many important aspects of interpersonal conflict from those involved in it. Most of the time one enters

a conflict aware of the resource disputes, preferences and nuisances problems, and perhaps the disputes

over facts or law, but little else. The hidden information will be critical to assessing the hidden conflict, the

participants' most interests, the opportunities presented by the other disputant's interests. Emotional issues

and hidden interests may complicate or impede resolution. Once adversarial negotiation or litigation starts,

it is extremely hard to find out about them.

Using conflict diagnosis

The practice of conflict diagnosis has two major uses in dealing with legal disputes and transactions. It

assists the disputant or conflict professional in

1. Choosing strategies and tactics for handling conflict and

2. Choosing a dispute resolution process and provider

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Conflict Management HRM624

Choosing strategies and tactics for handling conflict

In real-world interpersonal conflict, the practice of conflict diagnosis can reap benefits if applied early,

before ADR is even a consideration. A disputant or conflict professional who regularly engages in conflict

diagnosis can maximize gain for clients, prevent conflict escalation and dispute recurrence, ensure optimal

resource use, and for disputes that involve ongoing relationships, protect the viability of these relationships.

Legal professionals and other advocates can enhance their advocacy role by applying conflict diagnosis as

early as possible.

Choosing a dispute resolution process and provider

The use of conflict diagnosis for selecting ADR processes is a field still in its earliest infancy. This lack of

maturity makes conflict diagnosis very exciting to study and practice.

Comparing the major dispute resolution forms

Facilitative

Nonbinding

Informal

Formal

Litigation

mediation

evaluation &

arbitration

evaluative

mediation

Cost

Time

Finality

Psychological ownership

and quality of consent

Outcome creativity and

pareto optimality

Conflict containment and

escalation

Invisible-veil thinking

Sense of procedural justice

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Conflict Management HRM624

Comparing the major dispute resolution forms

Bigoted or

prejudiced

behaviour: dangers

Dealing with

disparities in

bargaining power

Disputant

transformation

Where it is often

Family

Court-

Private

The

found

mediation

connected

sector civil

default

ADR

dispute

process

resolution

Usefulness in

conjunction with

other processes

Misconduct by

neutral

Special qualities

Summary

We learnt the comparative nature of different forms of conflict resolution against various dimensions

related with the needs of disputants. We also learnt about the complexity of social and economic

environment and also about the nature of invisible veil.

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