Mediating Transnational Disputes: Will the Treaty do More Harm than Good?

The UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation will harm mediation of transnational disputes, argues Eric Sherby. In The Singapore Convention: The Emperor's New Clothes of International Dispute Resolution, Sherby contends:

Transnational settlement agreements arrived at through mediation are already routinely enforced without need for courts if they contain: (i) an escrow mechanism, (ii) an arbitration clause, and (iii) a "further documents" clause. The use of these three tools renders the Singapore Convention superfluous.

Sherby says the Singapore Convention will harm the enforcement of mediated settlement agreements because it authorizes a court in the state in which enforcement is sought to consider the mediator's "breach" of applicable standards as a possible defense to enforcement.

Many New Syllabi for ADR Courses

Thanks to Mizzou Law's John Lande for posting lots of interesting new syllabi from faculty who teach Alternative Dispute Resolution and related courses.

Those syllabi are just some of the many resources on the University of Missouri Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution’s collection of resources.

Win $1000 in Law Student Writing Competition on ADR

Law students can win $1000 in the Boskey Law Student Essay Contest on Dispute Resolution, sponsored by the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution in memory of James B. Boskey, a Seton Hall University law professor, and mediator.

June 12, 2020, is the deadline for entries.

Zoom for Mediation and Online Dispute Resolution

Links with resources:

https://www.odrzoom.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hdz-NI6Xr4&list=PLLwBPi0sA8OeWytboVYBvZoz8YVifI7f-&index=11

#Mediation Competition for Law Students with Cash Prizes

The New York State Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Section, the New York International Arbitration Center, and the American Arbitration Association are hosting the Second Annual Mediation Tournament Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21, 2020 at:

AAA-ICDR Dispute Resolution Center and NYIAC
150 East 42nd Street
17th Floor
New York, NY

Cash Prizes totaling $6,000.00

For general questions about the program, please contact Catherine Carl at ccarl@nysba.org

For any questions related to program registration, please contact the NYSBA's Member Resource Center by email at MRC@nysba.org, or by phone at 800-582-2452.

ADR and Access to Justice Conference

ADR and Access to Justice Conference is the title of an upcoming conference at Fordham Law School, 150 West 62nd Street in New York City,  Nov. 1.

The ADR and Access to Justice Conference will consist of four panels of speakers offering a critical analysis of ADR's access to justice. Register online. 

ADR in the Context of Criminal Cases

Negotiating Crime: Plea Bargaining, Problem Solving, and Dispute Resolution in the Criminal Context, is a new book focusing on plea bargaining and other use of alternative dispute resolution in the context of criminal cases. It is authored by law professors Cynthia Alkon  (Texas A&M) and Andrea Schneider (Marquette).

Online Dispute Resolution

International Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Forum, Oct. 29-30, 2019 in Williamsburg, Virginia. Schedule of Speakers and Topics

$1000 Prize in #ADR Writing Competition for Law Students

JAMES BOSKEY DISPUTE RESOLUTION ESSAY COMPETITION

One prize of $1,000 dollars will be awarded for the best entry as judged by the Boskey Essay Committee, comprised of representatives from the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution. In addition, the winning essay will be considered for possible publication in Dispute Resolution Magazine.

The competition is open to anyone who was a full-time or part- time J.D. law student at an ABA-accredited law school during the 2018-19 academic year.

Details here

Securities Arbitration, Mediation, and Negotiation Competition for Law Students

Law schools will compete in negotiation, mediation, advocacy, and arbitration in the tenth annual Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, sponsored by The Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution at St. John’s School of Law and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Dates
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Sunday, October 20, 2019

Location
St. John’s Manhattan Campus
101 Astor Place
New York, NY 10003

Registration
To participate in the 2019 Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, please register here.

Video of Asian Mediation

Produced by Suffolk University’s Dispute Resolution Center and the Youth College of Hong Kong,
a 3 minute preview is at www.tinyurl.com/yywaebzr.  The entire video and roleplay instructions can be downloaded without charge from “New Videos” at www.adrteacher.org

Mediation Instead of Incarceration After Violent Crimes

"Restorative justice" is the usual name for alternatives to incarceration that rest on mediation. Professor Michelle Alexander summarizes one program as follows:

The restorative circle, a meeting during which responsible parties sit with those they have harmed (or surrogates who take their place), a trained facilitator, and people who support both parties, is central to the process. It offers those affected by a crime with the power and opportunity to ask questions, as well as describe their needs and the ways they’ve been harmed. Ultimately, the parties strive to reach agreement about what the responsible party can do to make things as right as possible. The circle can be transformative for both survivors and those who’ve caused harm.

Negotiation Training

The 2019 Negotiation Institute of the American Bar Association's Section of Dispute Resolution 
is Feb. 15 at San Diego's Hotel del Coronado. It is led by George Washington University Law Professor Charles G. Craver and includes a blend of lectures and hands-on mock negotiations and mediations.

Negotiation Theory and Brexit

Harvard Professor and author of “Negotiating the Impossible" Deepak Malhotra applies negotiation theory to Brexit in today's NY Times: "Ignoring the genuine 'red lines' of your negotiation counterpart is often a costly mistake."

Malhotra explains why U.K. Prime Minister Teresa May "must first stop negotiating like an agent and start negotiating like a mediator."

Negotiation Videos

Good videos depicting lawyers in a transactional negotiation. These videos show tactics for exploring interests, identifying BATNA, and anchoring positions. The videos are by Professors Dwight Golann (Suffolk University Law School) and Marjorie Corman Aaron (University of Cincinnati College of Law).