International Commercial Mediation

Realizing Rationality: An Empirical Assessment of International Commercial Mediation, by University of Missouri Law Professor S.I. Strong, is forthcoming in the Washington and Lee Law Review.

The abstract says "Numerous public and private entities have launched initiatives to encourage mediation in international commercial and investment disputes, and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has taken up a proposal from the U.S. Government to consider whether a new treaty involving international commercial mediation is warranted."

Professor Strong's article "analyzes findings from the first-ever large-scale empirical study on international commercial mediation, providing hard data about current behaviors, beliefs and practices and testing fundamental theories about the use, nature and future of this particular process."

ADR Perspectives from Global Pound Conference

Pepperdine Law Professor Tom Stipanowich reports on the Kluwer Mediation Blog that

Recently, a series of day-long meetings styled as the Global Pound Conferences, conducted in cities worldwide, offered diverse stakeholders an opportunity to register perspectives on the current state and future of commercial dispute resolution. Each gathering brought together in-house lawyers and clients, external lawyers and consultants, providers of dispute resolution services, educators, government servants and others in order to elicit perspectives and encourage dialogue on dispute resolution, public and private.

Prof. Stipanowich summarizes the conclusions, including "According to Pound participants, efficiency—that is, the time and cost entailed in resolving a dispute outcome—was the most influential factor in choosing among dispute resolution processes (with a 61% ranking for the entire group, and 65% for “parties” (mainly in-house counsel)."

Mediation in Kansas

Advanced Mediation CLE - Mediating in Kansas Federal Court, a Continuing Legal Education program, is Friday, December 1, 2017, at the Kansas Law Center
1200 SW Harrison St., Topeka 66612

Check-in & Continental Breakfast start at 8:15 am. CLE begins at 9:00

Presenters Include:

Larry R. Rute, Associates in Dispute Resolution LLC.,Topeka
Susan Berson, Berson Law Group LLP., Overland Park
Dennis Gillen, Depew Gillen Rathbun & McInteer LC., Wichita
Steve Six, Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP, Kansas City, Mo
Diane H. Sorensen, Morris Laing Evans Brock & Kennedy, Chtd., Wichita
Hon. James O'Hara, Robert J Dole US Courthouse, Kansas City
Teresa J. James, Magistrate Judge, US District Court, District of Kansas, Kansas City
Henry Cox, Henry Cox Law Office, Shawnee

$5000 for Dispute Resolution Research, Competition Open

St. John's University's Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution announces the 2018 Mangano Dispute Resolution Advancement Award.

The $5000 annual award recognizes scholars whose published empirical research has furthered the advancement and understanding of the values and skills of dispute resolution.

Mangano Award Nomination Form
All submissions must be received no later than noon EST on Friday, December 8, 2017.

International Mediation

International Commercial Mediation is the subject of Fordham Law School's Dispute Resolution Society Symposium and Continuing Legal Education program, November 16, 2017, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Keynote Speaker
Nadja Alexander, Professor of Law, Singapore Management University; Academic Director, Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy

Speakers
Guido Carducci, Professor of Law, Université Paris-Est; Arbitrator/Mediator
Ilhyung Lee, Professor of Law, University of Missouri
Deborah Masucci, Co-Chair, International Mediation Institute
Michael Young, Mediator and Arbitrator, JAMS

Advice for Lawyers Representing Parties in Mediation

Lawyers representing parties in mediation often write pre-mediation statements to educate the mediator. Advice on drafting these statements is provided in a recent paper by Cardozo School of Law faculty Donna Erez-Navot and Brian Farkas: First Impressions: Drafting Effective Mediation Statements.

Law Students as Mediators

Law students practice their skills as mediators in the Jeffry S. Abrams National Mediator Competition, which is sponsored by the Blakely Advocacy Institute of the University of Houston Law Center.

1st Amendment on Campus, Dispute Resolution

The First Amendment on Campus is the topic of the University of Missouri's Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution Symposium, sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Law, the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution, and the Journal of Dispute Resolution.

Speakers include ADR professors

Prof. Lisa Blomgren Amsler
Keller-Runden Professor of Public Service, Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs

Dean Jennifer Gerarda Brown
Dean and Professor of Law
Quinnipiac University School of Law

Prof. Grande Lum
Director, Divided Community Project and Adjunct Professor of Law
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

Perceptions of Dominance in Negotiation

A new study concludes that when in a situation—such as a business negotiation— where they might want to be perceived as dominant, people were inclined to select products (like watches) with a wider product design. The study was led by University of Kansas Business professor Ahreum Maeng.

ADR Professors Confer at SEALS

On the indispensable ADR blog Indisputably, John Lande has posted photos of ADR professors working on a book project reconsidering classic dispute resolution articles. This photo includes in the back row Peter Reilly, Erin Archerd, Rishi Batra, Steve Ware, and in the front row Jill Gross, Andrea Schneider, Art Hinshaw, and Sarah Cole.

Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon

The Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon is a joint initiative of St. John's Law School's Center for Dispute Resolution and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. 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.

Arbitrator Training by ABA Section on Dispute Resolution

Great to be in Chicago for arbitrator training.

Steve Ware

The American Bar Association Section on Dispute Resolution's 10th Annual Arbitration Training Institute. Collaborating Organizations: American Arbitration Association,  College of Commercial Arbitrators, FINRA, International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), JAMS.

Arbitration in New York

Arbitration discussion in New York allows KU Law Professor Stephen Ware a nice detour to Washington Square Park.

Online Dispute Resolution in Which Court System Helps Individuals

Interesting paper, ODR and Justice System Integration: B.C.'s Civil Resolution Tribunal, in the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, by Shannon Salter of Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia.

The description of the Civil Resolution Tribunal sounds very user-friendly for individuals. For example:

Before beginning a claim with the CRT, a person with a dispute can access a free online tool called the Solution Explorer, which uses guided pathways to help a person learn more about their dispute so that they can make informed choices about how to resolve it. The Solution Explorer asks a series of questions about the dispute, and then provides information and resources tailored to that dispute.  For example, someone contesting a condominium bylaw fine might be given information about the applicable provisions of the Strata Property Act as well as a template letter to edit and send to their condominium council. At the end of the pathway, the Solution Explorer provides a summary of the person’s claims, as well as recommended resources and next steps.   

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 16, 2017, is the deadline for entries.

Mediation Training in Chicago

Managing the Negotiation Within: Internal Family Systems Training for Mediators and Lawyers is July 8-9 at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

The announcement:

When embattled parties come to the mediation or negotiation
table, they are often awash in emotions and impulses that make
for difficult interactions and impasses. The Internal Family
Systems (IFS) model provides a language and framework for
helping each party identify and speak for the fearful, enraged,
or wounded parts of themselves that are driving the conflict,
and feel witnessed by the other. Once these behind-the-scenes
feelings are revealed, the atmosphere in the room often shifts
and the parties are more willing to de-escalate their conflict and
discuss their issues from a calmer, more mindful place. In
addition, IFS offers mediators and lawyers clear, practical ways
to work with their own emotions. This program is led by IFS
Founding Developer Dick Schwartz and BLC Founder David
Hoffman.

Consumer Dispute Resolution Online

The New Handshake: Online Dispute Resolution and the Future of Consumer Protection is a new book by Missouri Law Professor Amy J. Schmitz and Modria.com Co-Founder Colin Rule. The book "uses Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) to provide fast and fair resolutions for low-dollar claims, such as those in most B2C (Business-to-Consumer) contexts."

Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon

The Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon is jointly run by St. John's University Law School 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.

The Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon is now accepting teams.

Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (“BATNA”)

The Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (“BATNA”) is an important concept in negotiation. BATNAs in Negotiation: Common Errors and Three Kinds of ‘No’ by Harvard Business Professor James K. Sebenius elaborates. The abstract:

The best alternative to a negotiated agreement (“BATNA”) concept in negotiation has proven to be immensely useful. In tandem with its value in practice, BATNA has become a wildly successful acronym (with more than14 million Google results). But the initial characterization of this concept in Getting to Yes (Fisher, Ury, and Patton 1991) as well as many later interpretations can be problematic, limiting, and even misleading in several ways, which this article analyzes and illustrates. First, early characterizations could be easily read to imply that one’s BATNA could not itself be a negotiated agreement. Second, and more seriously, common descriptions of one’s BATNA as the “best outside option, independent of the other side” needlessly limit its applicability, especially in the many bargaining relationships in which BATNAs are inherently interdependent. Third, BATNAs are often mistakenly described mainly as “last resorts” relevant only in case of impasse or “if the other side is more powerful.” Other uses of the term “BATNA” such as the common question, “How do I negotiate if I have no BATNA?” reflect misconceptions. Although savvy negotiators and analysts generally avoid these pitfalls, the less sophisticated can go astray. This article offers robust correctives to these misimpressions and relates these to three different kinds of “no” in negotiation: a “tactical no,” a “re-set no” that permits away-from-the-table moves to favorably alter the underlying setup, and a “final no.”

Mediation in Ireland

A bill in Ireland would obligate lawyers (barristers and solicitors) to advise their clients to consider using mediation to resolve disputes. "In addition, when court proceedings are launched, it will also oblige the parties to confirm to the court they have been advised about the mediation option, and have considered it." The Irish Times goes on to say "The Bill will be received as a significant move to place the mediation option at the centre of the legal process."

Open to Law Schools and Law Students: Representation in Mediation Competition

Registration for the 2017 ABA Law Student National Representation in Mediation Competition is open.  Regional competition rounds will be held this February and March across the country.  The final rounds will take place during the Dispute Resolution Section's Spring Conference in San Francisco this April.