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Full-Text Articles in Dispute Resolution and Arbitration
Court-Connected Alternative Dispute Resolution In Maine, Howard H. Dana Jr.
Court-Connected Alternative Dispute Resolution In Maine, Howard H. Dana Jr.
Maine Law Review
With these words of prophecy the Commission to Study the Future of Maine's Courts launched its discussion of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Although conceding that “the adversary process ... has served the people of the state well” and acknowledging that “the state must continue to provide a forum for forceful advocacy that produces a definite and binding judicial decision” the Commission asked the Maine judicial and legislative branches to embrace ADR. For the last dozen years, the Author has been the Supreme Judicial Court's (SJC's) liaison to its ADR Planning and Implementation Committee and Chair of the Court's Advisory Committee …
Restoring Bankruptcy’S Fresh Start, Jonathan S. Hermann
Restoring Bankruptcy’S Fresh Start, Jonathan S. Hermann
Fordham Law Review
The discharge injunction, which allows former debtors to be free from any efforts to collect former debt, is a primary feature of bankruptcy law in the United States. When creditors have systemically violated debtors’ discharge injunctions, some debtors have attempted to challenge those creditors through a class action lawsuit in bankruptcy court. However, the pervasiveness of class-waiving arbitration clauses likely prevents those debtors from disputing discharge injunction violations outside of binding, individual arbitration. This Note first discusses areas of disagreement regarding how former debtors may enforce their discharge injunctions. Then, it examines the types of disputes that allow debtors to …
Restraining Lawyers: From “Cases” To “Tasks”, Morris A. Ratner
Restraining Lawyers: From “Cases” To “Tasks”, Morris A. Ratner
Fordham Law Review
These regulatory and market mechanisms for restraining lawyers share a common thread but differ in their purposes, efficacy, and fairness. Despite these differences, the growing intensity of their focus, and their possible amplification of each other, suggest the possibility of the emergence of new professional norms that call on litigators to think more deeply and inclusively about value from the perspective of court and client when making litigation choices.
Closure Provisions In Mdl Settlements, D. Theodore Rave
Closure Provisions In Mdl Settlements, D. Theodore Rave
Fordham Law Review
Closure has value in mass litigation. Defendants often insist on it as a condition of settlement, and plaintiffs who can deliver it may be able to command a premium. But in multidistrict litigation (MDL), which currently makes up over one-third of the federal docket, closure depends on individual claimants deciding to participate in a global settlement. Accordingly, MDL settlement designers often include terms designed to encourage claimants to opt in to the settlement and discourage them from continuing to litigate. Some of these terms have been criticized as unduly coercive and as benefiting the negotiating parties—the defendant and the lead …
The Bellwether Settlement, Adam S. Zimmerman
The Bellwether Settlement, Adam S. Zimmerman
Fordham Law Review
This Article examines the use of bellwether mediation in mass litigation. Bellwether mediations are different from bellwether trials,” a practice where parties choose a representative sample of cases for trial to determine how to resolve a much larger number of similar cases. In bellwether mediations, the parties instead rely on a representative sample of settlement outcomes overseen by judges and court-appointed mediators.
Restraining Lawyers: From “Cases” To “Tasks”, Morris A. Ratner
Restraining Lawyers: From “Cases” To “Tasks”, Morris A. Ratner
Fordham Law Review
These regulatory and market mechanisms for restraining lawyers share a common thread but differ in their purposes, efficacy, and fairness. Despite these differences, the growing intensity of their focus, and their possible amplification of each other, suggest the possibility of the emergence of new professional norms that call on litigators to think more deeply and inclusively about value from the perspective of court and client when making litigation choices.
Closure Provisions In Mdl Settlements, D. Theodore Rave
Closure Provisions In Mdl Settlements, D. Theodore Rave
Fordham Law Review
Closure has value in mass litigation. Defendants often insist on it as a condition of settlement, and plaintiffs who can deliver it may be able to command a premium. But in multidistrict litigation (MDL), which currently makes up over one-third of the federal docket, closure depends on individual claimants deciding to participate in a global settlement. Accordingly, MDL settlement designers often include terms designed to encourage claimants to opt in to the settlement and discourage them from continuing to litigate. Some of these terms have been criticized as unduly coercive and as benefiting the negotiating parties—the defendant and the lead …
The Bellwether Settlement, Adam S. Zimmerman
The Bellwether Settlement, Adam S. Zimmerman
Fordham Law Review
This Article examines the use of bellwether mediation in mass litigation. Bellwether mediations are different from bellwether trials,” a practice where parties choose a representative sample of cases for trial to determine how to resolve a much larger number of similar cases. In bellwether mediations, the parties instead rely on a representative sample of settlement outcomes overseen by judges and court-appointed mediators.