In earlier Tips I’ve discussed up the importance of listening to your opposition, not just thinking about making your own case. Lack of real listening will render you more vulnerable if opposing counsel employs difficult tactics against you, such as lying, questioning your client’s representative’s authority or a host of other unpleasant behaviors. Faced with such tactics, you may tend to have a constricted vision of your options: giving in, retaliating or walking away, none of which is conducive to a successful mediation. Listening well, a/k/a “active listening”, may enable you to take control of the process. [Thanks to Gabriella Blum and the Harvard Program on Negotiation for the foregoing thoughts!]