Praise forHigh Conflict People in Legal Disputes
I can attest that high-conflict personalities take an inordinate amount of time and court resources in just about every type of case I have presided over. Mr. Eddy brilliantly offers new and valuable insights on how to cope with the high-conflict personality so as to arrive at a better result for all the parties involved and for better use of mediation and the courts.
Sol Gothard, JD, MSW, ACSW
Senior Judge (ret.), Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, State of Louisiana
Mediators and lawyers are hungry for innovative strategies to resolve disputes. Bill Eddy provides cutting-edge tools to understand our high conflict clients and to help them, and ourselves.
Forrest (Woody) Mosten
Certified Family Law Specialist and Mediator, Los Angeles, CA
I loved it. This book is very intriguing and a godsend for handling difficult personalities who dont want to stop fighting.
Dennis Sharp
Attorney, Arbitrator and Mediator
Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service (JAMS)
Former board member of Association of Conflict Resolution (ACR)
Bill Eddys gift is analyzing difficult problems and providing a road map of clear comprehensive solutions. In this second edition of High Conflict People in Legal Disputes he shares even more of his outstanding analysis, including new research, new cases, and new diagnostic formulations based on the DSM-5. Through the legal case examples we have a deeper understanding of how high conflict personalities can drive, disrupt and derail a case. Judges, mediators, attorneys and mental health professionals will find the twenty skills incredibly useful whether this is a first introduction to this book or an update. I highly recommend it to anyone involved in family law.
Robin M. Deutsch, PhD, ABPP
Director, Center of Excellence for Children, Families and the Law
William James College
An essential resource for all family law attorneys and mental health professionals working with high conflict divorce cases.
Steven N. Sparta, Ph.D.,
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCSD Medical School;
Former chair, Ethics Committee, American Psychological Association
Bill Eddy hits yet another home run with this second edition of High Conflict People in Legal Disputes! The additions pertaining to DSM-5, Paranoid Personality Disorder and steps to presenting your case are highly instructive. Bill, both in his presentations and writing, has an incredible knack of explaining and differentiating high conflict personality disorders. His inclusion of detailed and practical examples brings it all home for the reader. The legal and mental professionals tool kit is richly enhanced with his many invaluable tips and strategies. A must read!
Barbara Jo Fidler, Ph.D., C.Psych., Acc.FM.,
coauthor, Children Who Resist Postseparation Parental Contact
and Challenging Issues in Child Custody Disputes
Bill Eddy has done it again. He explains the complex personality problems that under-gird most high conflict cases, puts those into the context of legal disputes and provides practical and pragmatic guidance for professionals, particularly attorneys, on how to approach such cases and manage the parties involved. This updated version reflects the next generation of thinking in the mental health field about personality disorders, includes material about some of the most difficult clients to manage not included in prior editions and demonstrates in realistic case examples applications of the management principles. This book is a must have for the professional involved in legal disputes.
Kenneth H. Waldron, PhD, coauthor of
Game Theory and the Transformation of Family Law with Allan R. Koritzinsky, JD
High Conflict People in Legal Disputes is very helpful, useful and popular resource for law students and practicing lawyers, mediators, judges and other dispute resolvers in Australia. I thoroughly recommend it.
Prof Tania Sourdin, Dean, University of Newcastle, Australia
Tania Sourdin, Alternative Dispute Resolution, (2016) 5th Ed, Thomson Reuters
This book and Bill Eddys class have literally changed my ADR work and life. As a journalism mediator in Korea, I had focused on the legal system and culture for promoting and practicing dispute resolution. Now I emphasize on the personality sector and make full use of its analysis and responses written in this book. If you apply legal knowledge only to disputes, this book will give you a lot of strength and confidence when you deal with difficult people.
Shawn Jang, mediator and branch manager,
Press Arbitration Commission, Korea
ALSO BY BILL EDDY
Managing High Conflict People in Court
BIFF: Quick Responses to High-Conflict People, Their Personal Attacks,
Hostile Email, and Social Media Meltdowns, Second Edition
So, Whats Your Proposal? Shifting High-Conflict People from Blaming to
Problem-Solving in 30 Seconds
The Future of Family Court
Splitting: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Something with Borderline
or Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Dont Alienate the Kids! Raising Resilient Children While Avoiding
High Conflict Divorce
New Ways for Families in Separation and Divorce:
Professional Guidebook
Parent Workbook
Collaborative Parent Workbook
Decision Skills Class Instructors Manual & Workbook
Pre-Mediation Coaching Manual & Workbook
Its All Your Fault! 12 Tips for Managing People Who Blame Others for Everything
Its All Your Fault at Work! Managing Narcissists and Other High-Conflict People
New Ways for Work: Personal Skills for Productive Relationships
Coaching Manual & Workbook
Publishers Note
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information about the subject matters covered. It is sold with the understanding that neither the publisher nor the author are rendering legal, mental health, or other professional services in this book. If expert assistance, legal services or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
Names and information identifying private individuals have been changed to preserve anonymity. Many quotations have been modified to protect confidentiality and to demonstrate the principles of the book. Some examples are slight alterations of real cases, while other examples were inspired by real cases but are completely fictional. Quotes from court cases and news publications are accurate and names are real.
Appellate case citations are provided for interested readers who wish to review the original published opinions.
ISBN 978-1-936268-15-3
eISBN 978-1-936268-75-7
Copyright 2016 by Bill Eddy
Unhooked Books, LLC
7701 E. Indian School Rd., Ste. F
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
www.unhookedbooks.com
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016947905
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Failure to comply with these terms may expose you to legal action and damages for copyright infringement.