Managing High Conflict People in Court

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People with High-Conflict Personalities (HCP’s) are increasing in our society and in our courts. As litigants, they have a familiar pattern of high-intensity emotions, distortions of information, and self-defeating behavior. Their prolonged disputes are characterized by unchanging hostility, replacement of resolved issues with new unresolved issues, and lack of insight and behavior change. Judicial officers often refer to them as “frequent filers” who can’t let go of the litigation process. They have many of the characteristics of Cluster B personality disorders.

This book describes general principles and suggestions for judicial officers to use in managing people with High-Conflict Personalities in any courtroom, with an emphasis on family court litigants. As explained in this informative book, approximately half of these cases appear to involve two or more parties who are HCPs, while the other half may be driven primarily by one HCP with the other party generally acting reasonably.

This book is for judicial officers. Bill Eddy’s book, High Conflict People in Legal Disputes, is for any family court professional.

The Author

Bill Eddy, LCSW, Esq. is the co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of the High Conflict Institute in San Diego, California.

He pioneered the High Conflict Personality Theory (HCP) and has become an expert on managing disputes involving people with high conflict personalities. He was the Senior Family Mediator at the National Conflict Resolution Center for 15 years, a Certified Family Law Specialist lawyer representing clients in family court for 15 years, and a licensed clinical social worker therapist with twelve years’ experience.

He serves on the faculty of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law inCalifornia and is a Conjoint Associate Professor with the University of Newcastle Law School in Australia. He has been a speaker and trainer in over 30 U.S. states and 10 countries.

He is the author or co-author of twenty books and has a popular blog on the Psychology Today website with over 4.0 million views.

Book Details

Publisher: High Conflict Institute
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Pages: 60
Binding: Paperback
ISBN (print): 978-1-936268-01-6
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-936268-40-5
Author: Bill Eddy, LCSW, Esq.