Law Commons^™

Deadly Dust: Occupational Health And Safety As A Driving Force In Workers’ Compensation Law And The Development Of Tort Doctrine And Practice, George Conk

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Mediation: The Best And Worst Of Times, Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Faculty Scholarship

At this period in the evolution of dispute resolution, mediation is in a unique time zone, similar to what Dickens described in a Tale of Two Cities, as the best and worst of times, the seasons of Light and Darkness. It is the best of times, the season of Light and a time of joy in honoring human connections, as mediation is widely embraced in the public and private sectors. From government agencies and courts to corporations and United Nations peacemaking units, mediation offers a vision of hope in the midst of drowning bureaucracies, clogged dockets, corporate scandals and ethnic …

Procedural Justice Beyond Borders: Mediation In Ghana, Jacqueline Nolan-Haley, James Kwasi Annor-Ohene

Faculty Scholarship

Ghana enacted comprehensive alternative dispute resolution legislation in 2010 with the specific goals of providing access to justice and promoting domestic and foreign direct investment (The Act). A significant aspect of the Act was the inclusion of customary arbitration and mediation. The focus of this Article is on mediation as this is the first time that mediation has been included in a statute in Ghana. The Act’s definition of mediation reflects an understanding of the mediation process based upon the western values of individual autonomy and party self-determination. These principles represent a significant departure from the more communal values of …

China's Turn Against Law, Carl F. Minzner

Faculty Scholarship

Chinese authorities are reconsidering legal reforms they enacted in the 1980s and 1990s. These reforms had emphasized law, litigation, and courts as institutions for resolving civil grievances between citizens and administrative grievances against the state. But social stability concerns have led top leaders to question these earlier reforms. Central Party leaders now fault legal reforms for insufficiently responding to (or even generating) surging numbers of petitions and protests.

Chinese authorities have now drastically altered course. Substantively, they are de-emphasizing the role of formal law and court adjudication. They are attempting to revive pre-1978 Maoist-style court mediation practices. Procedurally, Chinese authorities …

Consent In Mediation , Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Faculty Scholarship

This brief comparative analysis of the United States and English approaches to mediation consent raises policy questions about the merits of mandatory mediation. Is England on a better course by requiring consent at the front end of mediation? Will mediation be stronger in the long run when it has a consensual foundation? Arguably, the use of cost sanctions in England's mediation regime makes it close to a mandatory mediation system. For some litigants, participating in mediation will be potentially less costly than arguing that it was not unreasonable to refuse mediation. But despite the mandatory gloss, mediation is still a …

Teaching Comparative Perspectives In Mediation: Some Preliminary Reflections Symposium: Transatlantic Perspectives On Alternative Dispute Resolution, Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Faculty Scholarship

The study of comparative law and legal process in any subject area offers the usual advantages of learning about other countries' legal cultures and developing a deeper understanding of one's own legal tradition. In the case of mediation, it is important to evaluate critically what is learned through comparative analysis. Mediation is still developing as a profession; it is newly institutionalized in legal cultures; and, it is relatively new to the canon of legal education. National legal traditions have responded differently to the implementation of mediation. Thus, lawyers must have an understanding of the differences and nuances in mediation law …

Self-Determination In International Mediation: Some Preliminary Reflections , Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Faculty Scholarship

Few concepts have generated as much discussion in the post-war international legal system as that of “self-determination.” Scholars debate the proper identity of the "selves" endowed with this right, its boundaries, and its normative relevance. When the focus turns to mediation, the discussion becomes murky because the concept of self-determination has both procedural and substantive components, and is noticeably different in the private and public sectors. The generic concept of self-determination relates to ideas of democratic governance and the Enlightenment belief that legitimate government depends upon the consent of the governed. As adapted to private mediation theory, the right of …

Merger Of Law And Mediation: Lessons From Equity Jurisprudence And Roscoe Pound, The , Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines Roscoe Pound's concerns with the decline of equity jurisprudence in the American legal system, suggesting that they resonate with those of modern ADR scholars who worry about the effects of blending settlement with adjudication and mediation with the law. It examines court-connected mediation with particular emphasis on the historic parallels between equity and mediation. Both equity and mediation offer a form of "individualized justice" unavailable in the official legal system, and each allow room for mercy in an otherwise rigid, rule-bound justice system. Yet, scholars question whether equity today is still equitable and whether institutionalized mediation offers …

Peace-Making Role Of A Mediator, The The Americanization Of International Dispute Resolution, John D. Feerick

Faculty Scholarship

Mediation, or the intervention of third parties, has been a tested and tried means of dispute resolution since the earliest history of the world. The theme for this program, the Americanization of International Dispute Resolution, asks whether there is an American style of dispute resolution and, if there is, whether it is positive or negative for the peaceful settlement of international disputes. In approaching my assignment of Mediation in Armed Conflict, I have focused my attention on Northern Ireland, a society that has experienced a violent conflict for the past thirty years, in which many efforts at mediation have taken …

Problem-Solving Negotiation: Northern Ireland's Experience With The Women's Coalition Symposium, Jacqueline Nolan-Haley, Bronagh Hinds

Faculty Scholarship

This paper is part of a Symposium that considered the relevance of domestic conflict resolution theories in broader cultural contexts. The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition (Women's Coalition) participated in the negotiations leading up to the 1998 Good Friday/Belfast Agreement. Members of the Woman's Coalition responded to thirty years of sectarian violence with a negotiation process based on accommodation, inclusion, and relationship building, concepts that resonate with American-style problem-solving negotiation. Using the Women's Coalition as a case study, this Article suggests that there are procedural aspects of problem-solving negotiation theory that may work across domains, specifically in multi-party, intractable conflict situations, …

Lawyers, Non-Lawyers And Mediation: Rethinking The Professional Monopoly From A Problem-Solving Perspective , Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Faculty Scholarship

Mediation is a big business today that is practiced by lawyers and non-lawyers, and is closely related to the business of law. Lawyers have a long-standing monopoly on the law business and do not look favorably on sharing their power with nonlawyers. This phenomenon is odd because it occurs at the same time that the legal profession is beginning to embrace a new ethic of problem-solving that honors the values of collaboration and power-sharing among professionals in multiple disciplines. Lawyers protect their professional monopoly through the unauthorized practice of law ("UPL") doctrine that limits the practice of law to licensed …

1977 Code Of Ethics For Arbitrators: An Outside Perspective, The Symposium: Ethics In A World Of Mandatory Arbitration, John D. Feerick

Faculty Scholarship

If ADR is to remain a vibrant part of the judicial landscape, it is essential that efforts further shape ethical standards and guidelines, as well as their practical connotations. The framers of the United States Constitution were very careful to establish a public justice system comprised of judges and juries operating within a framework of standards and protections designed to assure justice and fairness while simultaneously promoting public confidence. We should give similar care to developing processes through which we purportedly intend to accomplish similar objectives in resolving disputes and controversies. At the very least, the private nature of these …

Informed Consent In Mediation: A Guiding Principle For Truly Educated Decisionmaking , Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Faculty Scholarship

Informed consent has a central role to play in mediation. Without it, mediation's promises of autonomy and self-determination are empty. This Article has given the theoretical and policy justifications for a reform of mediation practice that honors the principle of informed consent. I have argued for a contextualized approach that takes into account mediation's location, the voluntariness of the parties' consent, and their representational status. This kind of analysis will lead to a more informed practice of mediation decisionmaking than exists currently and provide a perspective that can more prudently guide a mediator's conduct. The proposed approach promotes greater fairness …

Lawyers, Clients, And Mediation , Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Faculty Scholarship

That the growth of mediation practice is changing the practice of law is obvious. The inability of many lawyers to understand the conceptual differences between adversarial lawyering and mediation practice strongly suggests the need to develop a theory of "good" representational mediation practice that takes into account competing client interests. On the one hand, lawyers must encourage client voice and participation. At the same time, however, the demands of professionalism require that lawyers guide their clients toward responsible decisionmaking. Representational lawyering in mediation may involve a number of distinct and traditional lawyering functions-- client counseling, negotiation, evaluation and advocacy. In …

Toward Uniform Standards Of Conduct For Mediators Symposium: The Lawyer's Duties And Responsibilities In Dispute Resolution, John D. Feerick

Faculty Scholarship

It can no longer be doubted that alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") as a substitute for court-based litigation is growing in appeal. The high costs, adversarial nature, and time of traditional litigation have led to the development and popularity of other dispute resolution alternatives. ADR is making substantial inroads into the legal mainstream and is increasingly used in a wide variety of contexts by courts; federal, state, and local governments; businesses and private individuals. According to a recent survey conducted by the National Institute for Dispute Resolution, twenty-eight state courts now have mandatory, non-binding arbitration programs; more than half of the …

Standards Of Conduct For Mediators, John D. Feerick

Faculty Scholarship

In 1992, the American Arbitration Association, the American Bar Association, and the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR) formed a joint committee to develop a code of conduct for mediators. After more than two years of work, the committee completed and submitted Standards of Conduct for Mediators for approval to their respective associations. The purpose was to develop a set of standards that could serve as a general framework for mediators, providing them with a helpful tool in their practice. The standards were to be broad enough to cover all types of mediation and flexible enough to evolve over …

Standards Of Professional Conduct In Alternative Dispute Resolution Symposium, John D. Feerick, Carol Izumi, Kimberlee Kovach, Lela Love

Faculty Scholarship

ADR is unique in being interdisciplinary and interprofessional. ADR neutrals perform in a distinctive role and not as members of their own profession. The ADR process demands adherence to policies like voluntariness, respect for party autonomy, and confidentiality, which, in turn, make special ethical demands on ADR neutrals. Thus there are compelling reasons to contemplate an interdisciplinary code of conduct that addresses the professional duties and obligations of ADR neutrals. Standards of conduct for ADR has been a much discussed and debated topic over the past decade, both as to source and content. The two principal sources of standards have …

Teaching Mediation As A Lawyering Role Developments, Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Faculty Scholarship

The growth of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) movement has generated an increased interest in the study and practice of mediation as a nonadversarial method of conflict resolution. With mediation, individuals settle their disputes using a neutral third party who has no power to impose a settlement. Historically, mediation has been widely neglected in legal education, and-except for those involved in the labor field-lawyers have not practiced it. Recent gains in visibility have not necessarily resulted in widespread acceptance of mediation. In fact, mediation has even been openly resisted by some members of the legal profession.

Role Of A National Legal Information Center In The Access To Justice, The, Robert J. Nissenbaum

Faculty Scholarship

The author reviews the nature of disputes and mechanisms for dispute