I need to walk the streets and float the canals of Venice once more to bring The American of Venice manuscript to a close. I wonder where its protagonist, Elliott Pembroke, will lead me in Venice’s misty, cool, wet November? I’m departing at the end of the week. I’ll be in Umbria with family for a while to remember one of our own who has passed, then I’ll head north, first to Florence, and then to Venice, where I will wander. Alone. No agenda. Just narrow alleys and canals. I

I'm pleased to share that I've received the AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell, its highest peer-review rating for legal ability and professional ethics. I've practiced law for more than thirty years. During that time, I've had the privilege of representing people through some of the most difficult circumstances of their lives. I've tried cases, argued appeals, negotiated settlements, and, more recently, expanded my work into mediation. Along the way, I've learned

I am a mediator and maintain an active trial practice. This is an article about a recent mediation in which my training as a mediator helped me become a better lawyer for my client.

Mediation is not practiced in a vacuum. The law changes. Trial strategies evolve. New appellate decisions reshape risks. Jury attitudes shift. Settlement dynamics change. A mediator who handled a hundred cases ten years ago but has stopped learning may not be as effective as one who remains actively engaged with the profession.

By Raymond L. Niblock I have been invited to conduct a CLE session at the Washington County Bar Association, focusing on a continuing legal education (CLE) topic titled Anatomy of a Personal Injury Mediation from the Mediator’s Perspective. My goal is to provide practical insights to help attorneys and parties to prepare for and navigate mediation more effectively. I am excited about this opportunity, as personal injury mediation presents a distinctive approach to resolving d

A finished manuscript ready for the next step There is a moment in writing that comes at the very end. It is not the first draft. It is not the final revision. Those still belong to the work of shaping something unfinished. This is different. It comes when the manuscript returns from its final proofread. I received that manuscript today for Huldufólk: A Modern Icelandic Folktale. For the first time, I am not looking at a work in progress. I am looking at a finished book. Not

The completed manuscript: Huldufólk: A Modern Icelandic Folktale There is something enduring in the idea that what is hidden is not lost, only waiting. That belief runs through modern and ancient folklore, memory, and the stories we tell when the world feels uncertain or incomplete. It is also, I’ve come to believe, a way of describing something essential about ourselves. We all carry hidden lives. Not secrets in the shallow sense, but deeper truths—parts of ourselves shaped

Raymond L. Niblock (left) and Van Thomas Currell (right), Co-Mediators By Raymond L. Niblock, Founder & Principal Mediator, Niblock Mediation Services Not every mediation turns on emotion. Recently, I mediated a dispute involving alleged damage to a commercial building and the resulting loss of business income. At its core, the case was about numbers—specifically, how to interpret financial data tied to lost net profits. The gap between the parties was significant. Each side

This is a post about my latest novel, Huldufólk, which is now getting closer to being ready.

A professional mediator—one who is trained, experienced, and committed to the craft—approaches a mediation with a broader vision, informed by thorough preparation, because preparation is foundational.

An article about the timing of mediation - when it is too early versus when it is too late.

By Raymond L. Niblock, Founder & Principal Mediator, Niblock Mediation Services For most lawyers, HR directors, and insurers, mediation is still viewed as something that occurs after a dispute has matured—after pleadings are filed, discovery is underway, and positions have hardened. In many cases, that timing makes sense. But in others, waiting that long is precisely what makes disputes more expensive, more personal, and harder to resolve. Large, risk-averse institutions have

An article about why some mediations end before they begin.

Advice on finding time to write.

A case study on getting past the impasse...

Some cases need a trial, but in truth, most can be resolved before going to court.

Nearly any case can, and likely should be, settled before going to court.

Mediation resolves cases, saving the parties precious time, money, and energy.

Book Cover A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms reminded me why I first fell in love with Westeros. George R.R. Martin strips away the sweeping politics and dragons of Game of Thrones to give us something purer—an old-fashioned, deeply human adventure about honor, friendship, and the quiet weight of doing what’s right in a crooked world. Ser Duncan the Tall and young Egg make an unlikely but irresistible pair: one earnest and towering, the other small and sharp as a dagger, both tr

Cover At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of its odd, dreamlike tone or where it was going, but by the end, I found it strangely moving. Beneath the surreal imagery and mythic strangeness lies a tender story about loneliness, loyalty, and the quiet, saving power of friendship. Gaiman captures the disorienting wonder of childhood as remembered by an adult—how the small world of a child can brush up against the infinite, leaving a mark that never quite fades. I almost set it a