By Stephen Ware, a law professor at KU, in Lawrence, Kansas.

Principles of Alternative Dispute Resolution

Principles of Alternative Dispute Resolution
Principles of Alternative Dispute Resolution, in its fourth edition, is a Concise Hornbook, published by West Academic. More information is available by clicking on the photo.

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Monday, July 28, 2014

Negotiating With Someone From Another Country or Culture

Good post from Harvard Negotiation Blog summarizing an article in the May issue of the journal Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, “Starting Out on the Right Foot: Negotiation Schemas When Cultures Collide,” by professors Wendi L. Adair of the University of Waterloo, Canada; Masako S. Taylor of Osaka Gakuin University in Japan; and Catherine H. Tinsley of Georgetown University.

The basic lesson: don't overdo trying to negotiate the way you think is customary in your counterpart's culture.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Settlement Negotiation

Settlement and Trial: Selected Analyses of the Bargaining Environment 
by Vanderbilt Professors Andrew F. Daughety & Jennifer F. Reinganum.

The abstract:This Handbook chapter provides a brief review of selected settlement bargaining models in some areas where new work is developing and where additional work is likely to yield yet further important results. This work has focused on what might be thought of as the environment of the settlement negotiation process, where bargaining failure generally results in trial, and our survey will use that perspective to organize the work discussed.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Online Mediation and Online Arbitration

Teaching online dispute resolution through a simulation exercise by Noam Ebner of Creighton University School of Law's Werner Institute for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution. His abstract:

BeatleMania! is a simulation for studying and experiencing online dispute resolution. Two parties to an eBay transaction gone awry, regarding the sale of Beatles memorabilia, set out to resolve their differences with the assistance of a third party mediator.
This simulation is structured to allow communication to be conducted though any online medium selected jointly by the parties and mediators. In other words, the storyline supports this mediation being conducted via email, videoconferencing or other media. teachers can instruct students regarding use of specific media, if they prefer to focus on a particular medium.


Also, I recently learned about equibbly which advertises:

Avoid the Nightmare of Going to Court 

Have a former Court Judge decide your case online in under two weeks 

Save time and money. Using eQuibbly is quicker, cheaper and more convenient than going to small claims court to settle your dispute.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

"Mediation" and other ADR on Reality TV

A tv show on Bravo, Untying the Knot,  as reported by Art Hinshaw on ADR Prof Blog:

"Obviously having the mediator “determine a fair division of assets” doesn’t sound like mediation; Ms. Ziegler is engaging in early neutral evaluation (ENE).  But ENE has gone the way of Betamax and is so confused with mediation that it’s not worth the time to fight it.  In fact, I’ve seen and heard of many well respected mediators engage in such behavior.  So, let’s hope that this practice does not become what the public expects from divorce mediation, as this clearly limits the good that mediation can do in divorce.  Nevertheless, clips of the show are going to be great for class this fall when we discuss facilitative and evaluative mediation styles."

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Candor in Negotiation, Mediation, and Arbitration

Michael Dallaire's article begins: "Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is here to stay.  The Model Rules of Professional Conduct (Model Rules) must acknowledge that fact.  Several scholars have posited the lofty goal of creating an entirely separate code of ethics for ADR or at least individual processes.  But the process of ADR-specific rules must begin within the framework of the existing Model Rules.  One of the first steps in that direction should be to clearly define the level of candor required of an attorney-advocate in each major ADR forum.  An attorney’s duty to tell the truth, or his ability to deceive, should not be governed by a static standard when operating across a range of informal, nonbinding, participant-controlled settings like unassisted negotiation and mediation.  The Model Rules of Professional Conduct should include separate and distinct duties of candor for each major ADR forum, formulating each based on the unique characteristics of an individual forum.  The reformulated rules should focus on two primary factors in setting the requisite level of candor for a particular forum: (1) the stage in the dispute resolution process in which the particular forum is normally used, and (2) the degree to which a third-party neutral affects settlement."