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Managing Construction Conflict: Unfinished Revolution, Continuing Evolution, Thomas Stipanowich
Managing Construction Conflict: Unfinished Revolution, Continuing Evolution, Thomas Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
Two decades ago many believed we were experiencing a “Quiet Revolution” in the way conflict was managed, and nowhere was this more true than in the construction sector. Frustration with the costs, delays, risks and limitations of lawyer-driven adjudication prompted growing attention to informal methods aimed at early resolution of disputes, with those who “owned” the dispute back in the driver’s seat. A smorgasbord of options for preventing, managing and resolving conflict was suddenly on the table. There were strategies aimed at the very roots of conflict, including contractual terms aimed at promoting collaboration and reducing the chance of serious …
Living With Adr: Evolving Perceptions And Use Of Mediation, Arbitration And Conflict Management In Fortune 1,000 Corporations, Thomas Stipanowich, Ryan Lamare
Living With Adr: Evolving Perceptions And Use Of Mediation, Arbitration And Conflict Management In Fortune 1,000 Corporations, Thomas Stipanowich, Ryan Lamare
Thomas J. Stipanowich
As attorneys for the world’s most visible clients, corporate counsel played a key role in the transformation of American conflict resolution in the late Twentieth Century. In 1997 a survey of Fortune 1,000 corporate counsel provided the first broad-based picture of conflict resolution processes within large companies. In 2011, a second landmark survey of corporate counsel in Fortune 1,000 companies captured a variety of critical changes in the ways large companies handle conflict. Comparing their responses to those of the mid-1990s, clear and significant evolutionary trends are observable, including a further shift in corporate orientation away from litigation and toward …
Soft Law In The Organization And General Conduct Of Commercial Arbitration Proceedings, Thomas Stipanowich
Soft Law In The Organization And General Conduct Of Commercial Arbitration Proceedings, Thomas Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
This commentary examines the growing use of Soft Law - non-binding guidelines that currently play an important role in organizing and conducting commercial arbitration proceedings. Standards such as the UNCITRAL Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings, the ICC Techniques for Controlling Time and Costs in Arbitration, and the Protocols for Expeditious, Cost-Effective Commercial Arbitration have evolved from professional discourse regarding process management and more particular concerns about cost, delay and inefficiency in arbitration. Collectively, these guidelines reflect a growing recognition that deliberate and proactive effort by business users, counsel, arbitrators and provider institutions is critical to making the most of arbitration …
In Quest Of The Arbitration Trifecta, Or Closed Door Litigation?: The Delaware Arbitration Program, Thomas Stipanowich
In Quest Of The Arbitration Trifecta, Or Closed Door Litigation?: The Delaware Arbitration Program, Thomas Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
The Delaware Arbitration Program established a procedure by which businesses can agree to have their disputes heard in an arbitration proceeding before a sitting judge of the state’s highly regarded Chancery Court. The Program arguably offers a veritable trifecta of procedural advantages for commercial parties, including expert adjudication, efficient case management and short cycle time and, above all, a proceeding cloaked in secrecy. It also may enhance the reputation of Delaware as the forum of choice for businesses. But the Program’s ambitious intermingling of public and private forums brings into play the longstanding tug-of-war between the traditional view of court …
National Roundtable On Consumer And Employment Dispute Resolution: Consumer Arbitration Roundtable Summary Report, Thomas J. Stipanowich, Nancy Walsh, Lisa Blomgren Bingham, Lawrence R. Mills
National Roundtable On Consumer And Employment Dispute Resolution: Consumer Arbitration Roundtable Summary Report, Thomas J. Stipanowich, Nancy Walsh, Lisa Blomgren Bingham, Lawrence R. Mills
Thomas J. Stipanowich
This report is a summary of the discussions at the Consumer Arbitration Roundtable held at Pepperdine University on February 2-4, 3012 and co-sponsored by Pepperdine School of Law, The Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, and Penn State University, Dickinson School of Law. It was prepared by members of the Planning Committee.
Revelation And Reaction: The Struggle To Shape American Arbitration, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Revelation And Reaction: The Struggle To Shape American Arbitration, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
In this article, Professor Stipanowich explores recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and the implications for the respective domains of courts of law and arbitration tribunals regarding so-called “gateway” determinations surrounding the enforcement of arbitration agreements and the contracts of which they are a part. The decisions address the complex interplay between federal substantive law focusing on questions of arbitrability, a body of law defined and expanded by the Court under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), and the law of the states and bring into play competing judicial philosophies of contractual assent and contrasting views about the balance between …
The Third Arbitration Trilogy: Stolt-Nielsen, Rent-A-Center, Concepcion And The Future Of American Arbitration, Thomas J. Stipanowich
The Third Arbitration Trilogy: Stolt-Nielsen, Rent-A-Center, Concepcion And The Future Of American Arbitration, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
For the third time in the modern era, a triad of key Supreme Court decisions represents a milestone in American arbitration. In this highly controversial “Third Arbitration Trilogy,” the U.S. Supreme Court aggressively expands the “revealed” penumbra of substantive arbitration law under the Federal Arbitration Act and shores up the bulwarks of private, binding dispute resolution under standardized contracts of adhesion binding employees and consumers. In Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds International, 130 S. Ct. 1758 (2010), the Court, against the backdrop of an international commercial contract scheme and a unique procedural scenario, draws upon the wellspring of divined “federal substantive …
Arbitration: The "New Litigation", Thomas J. Stipanowich
Arbitration: The "New Litigation", Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
Today, binding arbitration procedures are employed in a wider variety of contracts than at any time in our nation's history, and arbitration has become a wide-ranging surrogate for court trial of civil disputes. As a result, arbitration is subjected to unprecedented stresses and strains, and it is fair to say that arbitration has never been subject to wider criticism. Once advocates promoted arbitration as a means of avoiding the contention, cost and expense of court trial; economy, efficiency and the opportunity to fashion true alternatives to litigation are still associated with conventional perceptions of arbitration. Yet today business arbitration is …
Arbitration And Choice: Taking Charge Of The 'New Litigation', Thomas J. Stipanowich
Arbitration And Choice: Taking Charge Of The 'New Litigation', Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
Despite meaningful efforts to promote better practices and ensure quality among arbitrators and advocates, criticism of American arbitration is at a crescendo. Much of this criticism stems from the fact that arbitration under standard procedures has taken on the trappings of litigation - extensive discovery and motion practice, highly contentious advocacy, long cycle time and high cost. Paradoxically, concerns about the absence of appeal on the merits in arbitration have caused some to craft provisions calling for judicial review for errors of law or fact in awards. It is time to return to fundamentals in American arbitration. Those who seek …
The Arbitration Penumbra: Arbitration Law And The Rapidly Changing Landscape Of Dispute Resolution, Thomas J. Stipanowich
The Arbitration Penumbra: Arbitration Law And The Rapidly Changing Landscape Of Dispute Resolution, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
After a generation of growing emphasis on informal methods of conflict resolution, the surrounding legal landscape remains "aimless, meandering, and . . . confusing." The "penumbra" of arbitration law - a body of judicial decisions involving application of federal or state arbitration statutes to processes that are to one degree or another different from "classic" arbitration, or to the interface between arbitration and earlier stages in multi-step dispute resolution processes - reflects the failure of courts to articulate clear and well-reasoned approaches to the new generation of dispute resolution tools. The application of arbitration law entails a variety of specific …
'Real Time' Strategies For Relational Conflict, Thomas J. Stipanowich
'Real Time' Strategies For Relational Conflict, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
The emergence of mediation and other informal approaches for the efficient, effective resolution of conflict represent opportunities for “thin-slicing” that are revolutionizing public and private dispute resolution. They are also challenging the primacy of litigation and arbitration with their emphasis on extensive information exchange and weighty procedure. Today, more and more disputants and counsel are recognizing that less is usually more—especially when the emphasis is on maintaining relationships or relational systems. The need for speedy and effective intervention has promoted the evolution of a wide range of strategies in very different relational settings, from integrated conflict systems in the workplace …
The Multi-Door Contract And Other Possibilities, Thomas J. Stipanowich
The Multi-Door Contract And Other Possibilities, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
The pressure of recent legislative, judicial and administrative developments and increasing awareness of the possibilities of other alternatives is encouraging unprecedented experimentation in the consensual arena. As courts and agencies have experimented with a range of solutions to more effectively address the many and varied controversies presented to them, litigators have been exposed to the possibilities of purposive third party intervention prior to adjudication. At the same time, nonlawyers have recoiled from the perceived high costs of “Total Process” in the litigation mode and have become more proactive in their approaches to conflict. Gradually, both these trends are feeding, together …
Reconstructing Construction Law: Reality And Reform In A Transactional System, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Reconstructing Construction Law: Reality And Reform In A Transactional System, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
In this article, Professor Stipanowich extensively explores the entire transactional system surrounding contracts for design and construction of the built environment. He examines the legal landscape of construction, focusing on “cases of trouble,” and evaluates options for reforming the legal framework including codification, a Restatement and more narrowing tailored legislation. He also discusses the critical role played by families of contracts and mechanisms for the management of relational conflict.
Beyond Arbitration: Innovation And Evolution In The United States Construction Industry, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Beyond Arbitration: Innovation And Evolution In The United States Construction Industry, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
Disagreement among contracting parties has a rich tradition in the construction industry, which has been at the forefront of creating and experimenting with alternatives to litigation. In this article, Professor Stipanowich examines traditional alternatives to litigation utilized by the construction industry, including summary adjudication by design professionals, arbitration, mediation, minitrial, dispute review boards, early neutral evaluation, and partnering. After analyzing the results from the 1991 ABA-sponsored survey on dispute resolution in the construction industry, the author presents data from the 1994 Multidisciplinary Study on Dispute Avoidance and Resolution in the Construction Industry, a landmark study of which the author was …
Punitive Damages In Arbitration: Garrity V. Lyle Stuart, Inc. Reconsidered, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Punitive Damages In Arbitration: Garrity V. Lyle Stuart, Inc. Reconsidered, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
In this article, Professor Stipanowich discusses the evolution of arbitration as a wide-ranging “surrogate” for civil trial and the debate over arbitrators’ power to levy awards of punitive or exemplary damages. He exhaustively summarizes and analyzes relevant court decisions, policy and practical concerns.