Law Commons^™

Twenty Years After Krieger V Law Society Of Alberta: Law Society Discipline Of Crown Prosecutors And Government Lawyers, Andrew Flavelle Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Krieger v. Law Society of Alberta held that provincial and territorial law societies have disciplinary jurisdiction over Crown prosecutors for conduct outside of prosecutorial discretion. The reasoning in Krieger would also apply to government lawyers. The apparent consensus is that law societies rarely exercise that jurisdiction. But in those rare instances, what conduct do Canadian law societies discipline Crown prosecutors and government lawyers for? In this article, I canvass reported disciplinary decisions to demonstrate that, while law societies sometimes discipline Crown prosecutors for violations unique to those lawyers, they often do so for violations applicable to all lawyers — particularly …

Impartiality And The Construction Of Trust In Investor-State Dispute Settlement, Stavros Brekoulakis, Anna Howard

Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy

This article analyses impartiality in investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) by identifying the way that the parties’ trust in arbitrators is constructed. Drawing on the findings of a large-scale empirical project, it questions the applicability of an orthodox judicial doctrine of impartiality to ISDS on the grounds that trust in arbitrators is constructed on a fundamentally different basis from that of trust in judges. The primary feature of a judicial doctrine of impartiality is that trust is founded on an absolutist approach to impartiality which is intended to ensure that judges have no predispositions to parties. In contrast, trust in ISDS …

Easy As Pi, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post presents some interactions with Pi, an AI system that is more conversational than others. It illustrates that, in the foreseeable future, AI systems almost certainly will become a lot more sophisticated and be incorporated into much of our lives, often in ways we will not notice

Cjcr Publishes Volume 24, Issue 3 (Symposium 2022), Halle Jaffe

CJCR Blog

The Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution—the country’s preeminent legal journal of arbitration, negotiation, mediation, settlement, and restorative justice— published the web edition of Volume 24, Issue 3 (Symposium 2022). The print edition of the issue has also been released.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution website on September 8, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.

Addressing Barriers To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Massachusetts Community Mediation, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Shino Yokotsuka, Karina Zeferino, Jarling Ho

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents over three years of systematically engaging, documenting and analyzing the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) needs/gaps and assets of state funded community mediation centers in Massachusetts. The report was compiled by researchers and an in-house DEI expert at the statutory state office of dispute resolution, the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The office has been serving as a neutral forum and state-level resource for over 30 years.

The report is based on qualitative research that falls into the category of community based participatory research conducted through a series of community …

Training Your Mediator Bot, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This somewhat tongue-in-cheek post discusses biases in AI systems. Noting that AI bots need to be “trained,” this post suggests that untrained mediator bots may spew out unwanted interventions such as providing undesired evaluations of BATNA values – or failing to provide desired evaluations. So mediators probably will need to co-mediate with their bots for a while to observe and correct its biases. Ironically, bots may produce language that normal humans understand much better than the confusing jargon we habitually use. So the mediator bots may need to train human mediators.

Teaching Students To Focus On Party Decision-Making, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post describes why law schools don’t teach students very much about helping clients make decisions and suggests techniques for doing so. It suggests (1) focusing on parties’ roles throughout relevant courses, (2) including meaningful party roles in simulations and competitions, (3) using simulations focusing solely on preparation, (4) using multi-stage simulations, (5) helping students focus on parties’ intangible interests in simulations and Stone Soup interviews, (6) using the terms “pre-mediation-session” or “before mediation sessions,” (7) taking advantage of the litigation interest and risk assessment framework and materials, and (8) recommending that schools offer a course on strategic case evaluation …

Addressing Barriers To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Massachusetts Community Mediation, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Jarling Ho, Shino Yokotsuka, Karina Zeferino

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents over three years of systematically engaging, documenting and analyzing the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) needs/gaps and assets of state funded community mediation centers in Massachusetts. The report was compiled by researchers and an in-house DEI expert at the statutory state office of dispute resolution, the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The office has been serving as a neutral forum and state-level resource for over 30 years.

The report is based on qualitative research that falls into the category of community based participatory research conducted through a series of community …

Focus On Party Decision-Making, John M. Lande

Faculty Blogs

A major motivation in the modern dispute resolution movement has been to increase and improve parties’ decision-making in their legal disputes. Parties can participate more effectively in negotiation and mediation if they engage in decision-making early in disputes. This suggests the importance of good preparation before negotiation and mediation sessions. When parties are well-prepared in advance, they are as knowledgeable, confident, and assertive as possible in making decisions in their cases

Charlie Irvine's Challenge To Mediators To Describe Your Mediation System, John M. Lande

Faculty Blogs

Charlie Irvine is the Course Leader on the University of Strathclyde’s (Scotland) MSc/LLM in Mediation and Conflict Resolution and the Director of the Strathclyde Mediation Clinic. The Clinic provides a free mediation service in which experienced practitioners work alongside trainee mediators to help people resolve disputes without going to court or tribunal. The following is Charlie’s Director’s Column published in Mediation Matters!, the Clinic’s quarterly newsletter. Irvine wrote an account of his own mediation system that was one of ten real mediation systems Lande analyzed in Real Mediation Systems to Help Parties and Mediators Achieve Their Goals.

The Unfulfilled Promise Of Self-Determination In Court-Connected Mediation, Peter Reilly

Faculty Scholarship

In the context of mediation, party self-determination refers to the ability of disputants to have power, control, and autonomy in the process. There are numerous process design questions involved in running a mediation, no matter its subject matter. Consider just one example: “Should the mediation be conducted in-person, or virtually?” The answer to this question can have a profound impact on the direction and course of a mediation, including its outcome. Yet, in the context of court-connected mediation, disputing parties are not consistently provided the opportunity to give input on how such process design questions are resolved. In fact, these …

Confidentiality Clauses In Settlement Agreements After The Consumer Review Fairness Act, Wayne Barnes

Faculty Scholarship

Online commerce has skyrocketed in recent years, and shoppers are purchasing goods or services online in greater numbers every year. The COVID-19 pandemic has only hastened the trend. One significant aspect of online shopping is the presence of consumer reviews posted by prior purchasers of goods or services, describing their experience with the products, the services and/or the selling merchant. A vast majority of online shoppers say that they rely on these reviews to help inform their purchasing decisions. Positive reviews can be tremendously beneficial to a business’ profitability, whereas negative reviews can be equally detrimental. Users of the internet …

A Further Look At A Hague Convention On Concurrent Proceedings, Paul Herrup, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

The current project of the Hague Conference on Private International Law has reached a critical juncture that requires careful consideration of the terms that delineate the scope of the proposed convention. Work to date has not followed the mandate of the Council on General Affairs and Policy to produce a convention that would deal with concurrent proceedings, understood as including pure parallel proceedings and related actions. In two previous articles we have addressed the practical needs that should be addressed by the concurrent proceedings project and the general architecture of such a convention. The process is now mired in terminological …

Negotiation Theories Engage Hybrid Warfare, Nancy Welsh, Sharon Press, Andrea Kupfer Schneider

Faculty Scholarship

The concept of hybrid warfare has arisen recently to describe the efforts, short of outright war, used by nations to disrupt and destabilize each other. This Article reviews available negotiation theories, concepts and skills to determine whether they can help governmental actors and business organizations targeted by hybrid warfare respond effectively. In other words, can negotiation theories, concepts and skills be used to engage effectively in “hybrid conflict management”? The Article urges that international diplomacy and multiparty negotiation theories and skills, as well as the more recent scholarship that has developed regarding hostage negotiation and “wicked problems,” are likely to …

A Theory Of Interests In The Context Of Hybrid Warfare: It's Complex, Cynthia Alkon, Sanda Kaufman

Faculty Scholarship

We will begin with a discussion about how the hybrid warfare context is different from other conflict contexts. We will describe some complexity aspects that make hybrid warfare challenging to negotiators. We will then discuss whether classical negotiation theory prescriptions apply to a hybrid warfare context, especially regarding interests. We will argue that these prescriptions related to classical negotiations are unlikely to work in this context. We will focus our analysis on a subset of hybrid warfare attacks, consisting of short-term, time-sensitive, high-risk crises, where negotiations are possible and necessary, such as ransom demands, rather than on hybrid warfare situations …

Party Self-Empowerment From Preparation For Mediation Sessions, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

If parties are well-prepared before mediation sessions, they will be knowledgeable, confident, and assertive so that they can exercise their decision-making authority as well as possible. Well-prepared parties can make decisions before and during mediation sessions rather than simply relying on mediators to promote their self-determination. In other words, they will feel more empowered to participate productively. Depending on the circumstances, mediators, lawyers, courts, and/or mediation programs may help parties get prepared.

Len Riskin Pulls It All Together In Managing Conflict Mindfully, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post describes Len Riskin’s impressive career and summarizes themes in his book, Managing Conflict Mindfully: Don’t Believe Everything You Think. He argues that people can wisely manage conflict by learning to use and integrate three sets of ideas and techniques – negotiation, mindfulness, and internal family systems (IFS). You can think of IFS as the conversation or negotiation between different voices in our heads. Rather than conceiving people as having only a single “unitary” self, IFS recognizes the “multiplicity” of our selves.

Single Crime, Dual Crime And Another? Expansion Of The Concept Of Joint Liability Under Section 34 Of The Penal Code – Public Prosecutor V Azlin Bte Arujunah And Other Appeals [2022] 2 Slr 825, Ting Xuan Jordan Chia, Natalia Mai Do Ngoc

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

It is well-understood that for most crimes to be established, the requirements of actus reus (the physical element) and mens rea (the mental element) need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. However, in situations involving joint offenders, if one of the offenders dealt the fatal blow, while the other offender acted as a lookout, can the other offender really be said to have the actus reus of the particular offence?

The Lack Of A Time Bar: An Injustice Within Unjust Enrichment Claims – Esben Finance Ltd And Others V Wong Hou-Lianq Neil [2022] 1 Slr 136, Jie Loong Tan

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

Limitation periods refer to the period within which a claimant who has a right to claim against another person, i.e., the defendant, must begin court proceedings to establish that right. Once that period has passed, the defendant can no longer be sued on that particular action. This is to prevent the threat of an action from continually hanging over the defendant such that once the limitation period has passed, the defendant can be sure that the claimant is no longer able to sue.

Taming Reflective Loss – Miao Weiguo V Tendcare Medical Group Holdings Pte Ltd [2022] 1 Slr 884, Pey Woan Lee

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

At common law, the “no reflective loss” (“NRL”) principle bars a shareholder from bringing a personal action to recover any diminution in share value resulting from a wrong inflicted by a thirdparty wrongdoer on the company. Such reduction in value is not treated as the shareholder’s personal loss as it is a “mere reflection” of the company’s loss. And this is so even if the company does not seek to recover from the wrongdoer or settles with the wrongdoer for a sum well below its actual loss. Though endorsed by the highest courts, the NRL principle remains controversial by reason …

When Sparks Fly Because Of Your Neighbour’S Independent Contractor: The Stricter-Liability Test Of Private Nuisance In Singapore – Pex International Pte Ltd V Lim Seng Chye And Another And Another Appeal [2020] 1 Slr 373, Samuel Hzi Xun Tay

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

When your land has been damaged by your neighbour’s independent contractor, who should be held responsible—the contractor or your neighbour? Previously, it was considered by some to be difficult to pin liability on one’s neighbour. 1 This position was criticised for being unfair and unjust, especially in situations where one was unable to obtain recourse from the contractor.

What Cases Are To Be Heard By The Appellate Division And Why: Noor Azlin Bte Abdul Rahman And Another V Changi General Hospital Pte Ltd [2021] 2 Slr 440, Grace Jin Yi Nai

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

On 2 January 2021, certain statutory amendments came into effect: specifically, the Supreme Court of Judicature (Amendment) Act 2019 (Act 40 of 2019) (“SCJ(A)A”) which amended the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap 322, 2007 Rev Ed) (“SCJA”), and the Rules of Court (Amendment No. 5) Rules 2020 (“ROC(A)”) which amended the Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed) (“ROC”). These amendments had a significant impact on the court appellate system. For clarity, the pre-2 January versions of the legislation will be referred to as the “former SCJA” and “former ROC”, while the post-2 January versions will …

The Geoeconomics Of Belt And Road Disputes: A Case Study On The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Mark Mclaughlin

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article argues that the dovetailing economic, geopolitical, and security interests that underpin the Belt and Road Initiative demands a dispute resolution mechanism that focuses on broader interests and legal rights. Using the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a case study, it identifies the conditions in which Chinese investors could have initiated an investment arbitration but did not. This can be explained by the rights-based orientation of investment treaties failing to reflect the interests of multi-project initiatives. Instead, alternative methods of home state intervention, such as state-funded political risk insurance, are used to protect investors. In other words, the political …

The New System Of Civil Appeals: What "Constitutional Or Administrative Law" Is; Whether To Appeal To The Appellate Division Or The Court Of Appeal; And Proposals For Further Reform, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

An application was made under s 95 of the Legal Profession Act to set aside a penalty imposed by the Council of the Law Society. The Court of Appeal held that an appeal lay to the Appellate Division of the High Court, and not the Court of Appeal, because this was not a “case relating to constitutional or administrative law”. The reasoning is problematic: it relied on an overly narrow conception of “public powers”, conflated judicial review with administrative law more broadly, erroneously considered the merits of the application as relevant to the “which court” question, and overlooked the similarities …

Cjcr Publishes Volume 24, Issue 2 (Spring 2023), Halle Jaffe

CJCR Blog

The Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution—the country’s preeminent legal journal of arbitration, negotiation, mediation, settlement, and restorative justice—today published the web edition of Volume 24, Issue 2 (Spring 2023). The print edition of the issue has also been released.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution website on May 10, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.

Using Odr Platforms To Level The Playing Field: Improving Pro Se Litigation Through Odr Design, J.J. Prescott

Law & Economics Working Papers

In a few short years, court-connected ODR has shown itself capable of dramatically improving access to justice by reducing or eliminating barriers rooted in the simple fact that courts have traditionally offered dispute resolution services only during certain hours, only in particular physical places, and primarily through traditional face-to-face proceedings. Given the monopoly that courthouses have long had on resolving many legal issues, too many Americans have discovered their rights are simply too difficult or costly to exercise. As court-connected ODR systems spread, offering new types of dispute resolution services everywhere and often at any time, people will soon find …

Why The Political Peace Process Failed Between The Afghanistan Central Government And The Taliban And How Using Negotiation Could Help Resolve The Conflict, Ross Herman

CJCR Blog

The central government of Afghanistan and the Taliban reached a deadly stalemate, taking around one hundred lives a day from each side between 2018 and 2021. Their failure to reach a peace agreement may be due to the United States’ involvement and conflicting interests between the different Afghan groups.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution website on May 7, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.

California’S Proposed Ban On Mandatory Arbitration Agreements As A Condition Of Employment, Samuel Silverman

CJCR Blog

California is casting uncertainty on the employer’s ability to implement mandatory arbitration agreements on employees. In October 2019, Governor Newson signed Assembly Bill No. 51, which would apply to employment contracts entered, modified, or extended on or after January 1, 2020. This bill created Labor Code Section 432.6, banning mandatory arbitration agreements as a condition of employment in California. This would work around the Federal Arbitration Act, which requires courts to enforce arbitration agreements, preempting the state laws that stood in its way. Critics argue that the process favors employers and discourages prospective employees from bringing legal claims. On the …

To Zoom Or Not To Zoom?: Mediators’ Perspectives On Virtual Mediation, Penina Gershbaum

CJCR Blog

In mediation, conflicting parties meet with a mediator, a neutral party, to help them resolve their dispute. Mediations have traditionally been conducted in person, due to the importance of nonverbal communication in the mediation process. During Covid-19, however, states issued stay-at-home orders to prevent the spread of the virus. This mandate led to mediations conducted virtually through the use of videoconferencing platforms like Zoom. I interviewed ten mediators who mediate across different areas of law to hear their thoughts on the differences between mediating virtually and in person, difficulties with mediating virtually, and if they will return to in person …

Mlb’S Salary Arbitration: Future Prospects For A Historic Adr Model, Eliott Dosetareh

CJCR Blog

As the oldest major professional sports league in the country, the MLB’s record of salary arbitration has its roots in over 150 years of baseball history. The first Collective Bargaining Agreement or “CBA” was signed by the players union and owners in the early 1970s, creating a process for salary arbitration in which players not yet eligible for free agency would be compensated based upon their seasonal performances.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution website on April 30, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.