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.

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.

Collection of Alternative Dispute Resolution Course Syllabi Linked

University of Missouri Law Professor John Lande updated this excellent collection of syllabi for courses including Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Comparative and International Dispute Resolution, Mediation and Negotiation.

Thanks also to John for his pleasant and insightful dinner conversation a few days ago. ;-)

Common Misunderstanding About Negotiation

"The current framework" of negotiation, as U. Missouri Law Professor John Lande's post says, "relies primarily on two models – positional and interest-based negotiation. ...People often fall into the trap of "equating positional negotiation as being tough and interest-based negotiation as being nice," according to John Lande's post at Indisputably.

Great Resource for ADR Teachers

Syllabi of dispute resolution courses, maintained by Missouri Law Professor John Lande.

Getting to Yes Sooner, Cheaper, and Better

is the title of an article by Missouri Law Professor John Lande, who interviewed well respected litigators about how they prepare for trial and for negotiation.  

"They recommend taking charge of their cases from the outset, which includes getting a clear understanding of clients and their interests, developing good relationships with counterpart lawyers, carefully investigating the cases, making strategic decisions about timing, and enlisting mediators and courts when needed. The lawyers overwhelmingly suggested starting negotiation at the earliest appropriate time. Reaching agreement sooner generally produces the benefit of reduced litigation costs as well as reduced time that parties invest in litigation. Lawyers produce better agreements when they focus on both sides’ interests because this enables them to create value, even in supposedly zero-sum negotiations." 

I like the vocabulary Professor John Lande uses: focus on both sides' interests, create value, zero-sum. It really captures well what matters in negotiation.  

Negotiation Theory and Empirical Data

New article by Missouri Law Professor John Lande on Negotiation Theory, with empirical data

A Framework for Advancing Negotiation Theory: Implications from a Study of How Lawyers Reach Agreement in Pretrial Litigation

Lande argues that "The prevailing negotiation theory tries to fit lots of square pegs into just two round holes - adversarial or cooperative bargaining."