Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser—in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will be business enough.
—Abraham Lincoln, Notes for a Law Lecture, 1850
I realized that the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder. The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me that a large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby—not even money, certainly not my soul.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth, 1927
James Strock possesses an array of experience as a practitioner of negotiation and communication, to assist clients and stakeholders in the roles of:
Convener—bringing disparate parties together in structured communications to yield areas of prospective consensus—including high-complexity, high-stakes, high-controversy matters;
Mediator—bringing parties together in a structured negotiation to assist them in reaching voluntary agreements to resolve a conflict; and
Negotiator—representing the interests of one or more parties in a multiple stakeholder transaction or relationship.
Extensive Experience, Complex Challenges
James Strock has extensive service in conflict and dispute resolution. He acts as a convener, mediator, and negotiator in transactions and relationships in high-stakes matters involving public, private and non-governmental organizations, both domestic and international. Strock is uniquely able to serve effectively across a range of domains and with a range of stakeholders.
Education & Training
Harvard College (A.B.); Harvard Law School (J.D.). Also received training at Harvard Law School Project on Negotiation, Senior Executives Program; as well as mediation training from the American Arbitration Association, and the Mediation Institute, led by Steven Rosenberg, Mill Valley, California.
Fee Schedule Available on Request.
Image Credits: Lincoln: Brady’s Photographic Portrait Galleries, Public Domain via Library of Congress. Gandhi: Elliott & Fry, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Conflict and Dispute Resolution | Serve to Lead Group | James Strock