Filling the ADR bookshelf

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If you’re looking for a title to boost your mediation know-how, or just to get you thinking generally about how human conflict works, you might want to check out these books — some of which are classics, while others fall in the cutting-edge arena.

Amy H. Koltz, of De Mars & Associates Ltd. in Waukesha, who chairs the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, says her favorite book is “Beyond Machiavelli: Tools for Coping with Conflict.” The book is co-authored by Roger Fisher, Elizabeth Kopelman, and by one of Koltz’s former professors, Andrea Kupfer Schneider of Marquette University Law School.

“I first read it when I was in law school about five years ago, and I just picked it up again recently,” says Koltz. “It’s a really good resource if you’re thinking about changing the framing or perspective of an issue, or to help look at a dispute from another’s view or the perspective of an outsider. I also like the book for the way it can help you look at an international conflict.

It’s not just for mediators, but also for people who want to understand more about what’s fueling some of the world’s longstanding political conflicts.”

It’s not the only published work by Schneider that has garnered rave reviews by mediators.

Schneider co-edited “The Negotiator’s Fieldbook,” with Christopher Honeyman for the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution.

Michael Rust, an attorney with Gerbers Law S.C. in Green Bay and a member of the State Bar’s ADR Section board, likes the book because it contains roughly 80 short essays on negotiation.

“It presents a great cross-section of information. For example, I recently looked up a really helpful chapter about how to negotiate with someone who’s mentally unstable,” says Rust.

It’s a classic, he adds, as is anything written by Prof. Leonard L. Riskin, and “Getting
to Yes,” by Roger Fisher and William L. Ury.

Another excellent book put forth by Wisconsinites, one that follows the essay-style format, and one that falls into the “classics” category is “Divorce and Family Mediation: Models, Techniques and Applications,” edited by Jay Folberg, Ann Milne and Peter Salem.

That’s according to Kathleen M. Baird, of the Law Firm of Kathleen M. Baird in Wauwatosa, whose first mediation trainers were Milne and Salem, both Madisonians.

“This is the most comprehensive resource for a full range of topics on mediation theory and practice. Every mediator should have a copy,” says Baird, the chair-elect of bar’s ADR Section.

“Thirty-one of the nation’s finest mediators are contributors. The book is a resource I refer to again and again.”

Baird additionally suggests “Bringing Peace into the Room: How the Personal Qualities of the Mediator Impact the Process of Conflict Resolution,” edited by Daniel Bowling and David Hoffman.

“I particularly value this book because it offers a depth of focus beyond traditional academic training, theoretical orientation and techniques in mediation to examine the psychological, intellectual and spiritual qualities of mediators, which have as much to do with successful mediation. The 13 contributors offer rich opportunities for mediator self-reflection.”

Along these lines, other resources that could be classified more in the category of “avant garde” come recommended by Marquette University Law School Professor Natalie Fleury, the immediate past-chair of the bar’s ADR Section. They are: “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ,” by Daniel Goleman; “Nudge,” by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sundstein; and “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,” by Malcolm Gladwell.

“They’re books for people who are in the mode of learning about how people process information, and how that may impact mediation,” says Fleury.

Another book worth checking out is “The Practice of Mediation: A Video-Integrated Text,” by Douglas Frenkel and James Stark. Fleury says she hasn’t cracked that one yet, but the book was creating a lot of buzz at the most recent meeting of the ABA’s Dispute Resolution Section.