Negotiation Competition for Law Students

The South Texas College of Law in Houston hosts an Energy Law Negotiation Competition that  provides students with an opportunity to develop their negotiation skills with real world fact patterns based on current issues in the field of energy law.

The 5th Annual Energy Law Negotiation Competition will be held on April 6-7, 2019.
Registration for the 2019 competition is now open. The registration fee is $350.

New Videos on Settlement Negotiation, Exploring Clients' Interests by @ADRvideos

One new video from the ABA Section on Dispute Resolution shows the full negotiation of a roleplay arising from a landowner dispute, in person and by telephone (20 minutes). Three new videos focus on specific situations:
• Dealing with “stonewalling” (7 min)
• A client who rejects a tentative deal (5 min)
• In a related roleplay, Settle II, lawyers exploring clients’ interests (9 min)

ADR Continuing Legal Education in Kansas and Missouri

Taking Dispute Resolution to the Next Level: A Litigator’s/Mediator’s Guide to Expanding Settlement Opportunities offers  6.5 hours of CLE credit, including 1.0 hour of Ethics in Kansas & Missouri, Friday, November 9, 2018, at the Robert L. Gernon Law Center, Topeka.

The schedule:

8:30 a.m.         Check-In & Registration

9:00 a.m.        The Intersection of Insurance and Successful Settlement
                        Robert Sullivan, Attorney at Law, Overland Park
                        John Cusick, Barnes Law Firm LLC, Kansas City, MO
                        Mark Meyer, American Family Insurance Co., Lee's Summit, MO
                        Jeff Cox, Cox Law Office LLC, Raymore, MO

9:50 a.m.         Family Law: Shared Parenting Plans Under the New Tax Code; Drafting Property Settlement Agreement Provisions 
                        Dealing with Retirement Assets
                        Aline Barrett, Kansas Mediation Concepts, Topeka
                        Adina F. Morse, Curtis G. Barnhill PA, Lawrence
                        

10:40 a.m.       Break

10:55 a.m.       Employment Law Settlement Agreements: Covering All of the Bases
                        Jon E. Newman, Hite Fanning & Honeyman LLP, Wichita
                  

11:45 a.m.       Lunch (provided)

12:30 p.m.      Probate ADR Opportunities and Issues
                        Cathleen A. Gulledge, Law Office of Cathleen Gulledge LLC, Wichita
                         
1:20 p.m.        Healthcare ADR Issues and Opportunities
                        Frankie J. Forbes, Forbes Law Group LLC, Overland Park
                        Brian J. Niceswanger, Evans & Dixon LLC, Overland Park
                        Randy J. Troutt, Hite Fanning & Honeyman LLP, Wichita

2:10 p.m.        Break

2:25 p.m.        Swimming with the Sharks: Negotiation Ethics for Guppies
                        Larry R. Rute, Associate in Dispute Resolution LLC, Topeka
                        

3:15 p.m.        Adjourned

Dispute Resolution Conference Texas A&M Nov. 16-17

November 16, 2018, Texas A&M Law’s Dispute Resolution Program will hold its 2018 annual symposium: Shining a Light on Dispute Resolution: Transparency, Metrics and Empirical Research.  Panels will focus on:

• Mediation and online dispute resolution (ODR) in the courts
• Plea bargaining, and
• Diversity/inclusivity among neutrals 

The keynote will be presented by Tom Stipanowich, William H. Webster Chair in Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University of School of Law and Dean of the Straus Institute. Dean Stipanowich is in residence at Texas A&M this semester as a Hagler Institute Faculty Fellow.

Confirmed presenters include:

• Pat Chew (University of Pittsburgh)
• Sarah Cole (Ohio State University)
• Ben Davis (University of Toledo)
• Paula Hannaford-Agor (National Center for State Courts)
• Pamela Metzger (SMU)
• JJ Prescott (University of Michigan)
• Peter Reilly (Texas A&M University School of Law)
• Erika Rickard (Pew Charitable Trusts)
• Andrea Schneider (Marquette University)
• Donna Shestowsky (UC-Davis)
• Donna Stienstra (Federal Judicial Center)
• Maria Volpe (John Jay College-CUNY)
• Ron Wright (Wake Forest University)

On Saturday, November 17, 2018, Texas A&M also will hold a half-day Regional Dispute Resolution “Schmooze.”  This will be an opportunity for participants to:

• Present and receive feedback on dispute resolution-related scholarly works-in-progress and
• Provide feedback to the National Center for State Courts and The Pew Charitable Trusts regarding evaluation metrics for court-connected ODR pilots. 

There is no registration fee for either day, but all attendees must register. 

Click here for the tentative agenda for November 16-17, 2018.

ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Mediation Week

October 14 - 20, 2018, is the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution's Mediation Week. 

This year's theme is “Mediation, Civil Discourse, and ABA 2011 Resolution 108”. 

Hat tip to John Lande

Opportunities for Law Students to Compete as Mediators and Representing Parties in Mediation

Mediation Competition, October 12-13, 2018, at the University of Houston Law Center.
Law students compete in roles as mediators and as representing parties in mediation.

Securities Dispute Resolution: Negotiation, Mediation and Arbitration

The Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon is a joint initiative of St. John's University's Center for Dispute Resolution and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). For two days, student teams from law schools around the country meet to test their advocacy skills in the negotiation, mediation and arbitration of a securities dispute.

Students play the roles of attorneys and clients, with some teams in the role of investor and others in the role of broker-dealer. Members of FINRA’s roster of experienced neutrals serve as mediators, arbitrators and judges, critiquing the student teams. Teams are composed of three students, and the competition takes place over two days.

Saturday, October 13, 2018 and Sunday, October 14, 2018
St. John's Manhattan Campus
101 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003

Register

ADR Conference for Law Profs

The Association of American Law Schools Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution 12th Annual Works-in-Progress Conference is October 4-6, 2018, at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

The conference will kick-off with a welcome dinner at 6pm on Thursday, October 4. On Friday, October 5, the conference will run from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Maryland Carey Law, followed by a dinner, and from 8:30-noon on Saturday, October 6, followed by an afternoon activity for those with later travel plans. A final schedule with specific location details will be posted closer to the conference.

Mediation Competition Hosted by International Chamber of Commerce

The 2019 International Chamber of Commerce Mediation Competition will take place from 7-13 February 2019 in Paris.

Universities can apply online until 3 October 2018 to be among  66 university teams from across the globe participating.

Good Video Depicting Common Adversarial Tactics in Zero-Sum Negotiation

This good short negotiation video on Vimeo is produced at the University of North Carolina and depicts an automobile sale negotiation.

It depicts some adversarial tactics suited for zero sum negotiation about price.
For example, walking away from the table, keeping the other party waiting, adding a new demand late in negotiation, asking the other party's bottom line: "How much are you willing to pay?" And use of a team with a "Good cop, bad cop" (sales person "checks with manager").

Treaty to Enforce Mediated Settlements Internationally: "Singapore Convention on Mediation"

Yesterday, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) finalized a Convention on the Enforcement of Mediation Settlements and a Model Law for the same.

The convention will be known as the Singapore Convention on Mediation and is scheduled for adoption by the UN General Assembly later this year. On August 1, 2019, the convention will open for signature in Singapore. The final text is not yet online but the draft documents are: http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/commission/sessions/51st.html

Grant Money for ADR Research

The American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution Foundation is now accepting Initial Descriptions of Grant Requests. The Foundation will be "focusing on innovative and replicable proposals that provide ADR for vulnerable and underserved populations, or
ADR for community focused dispute resolution."

Interested organizations or individuals should submit a 1-2-page Initial Description of Grant Request no later than October 5, 2018.

Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon

The Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon is a joint initiative of the Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority(FINRA). For two days, student teams from law schools around the country meet to test their advocacy skills in the negotiation, mediation and arbitration of a securities dispute.

Saturday, October 13, 2018 and Sunday, October 14, 2018

St. John's Manhattan Campus

101 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003


Registration

Charles Craver Wins ABA Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work

Professor Charles Craver of George Washington University Law School is the 2018
recipient of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution’s Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work.

As the ABA says, "Professor Craver’s writing is prolific and influential. His work on negotiation,
particularly the modern use of distributive negotiation tactics and possible responses to them, has
spawned other research and changed how lawyers approach negotiation. He has written seven
ADR texts, including Effective Legal Negotiation and Settlement, first published in 1986 and
now in its 8th edition."

The Negotiator's Desk Reference

The Negotiator's Desk Reference second edition has been published by Mitchell Hamline's DRI Press. It is edited by Andrea Schneider and Chris Honeyman, and contains contributions from many leading experts on negotiation.