Law Commons^™

Ai And Empathy, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post speculates about whether AI systems will be able to replicate human empathy – at least enough to satisfy people interacting with them.

A Mediator And A Bot Walk Into A Bar …, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post presents ChatGPT’s decent response to a question about the main models of mediation (or at least much better than what most of my students would have written).

How The Real Practice Systems Project Can Help Improve Mediation Quality, John M. Lande

Faculty Blogs

Improving mediation quality is tricky. This post describes how the Real Practice Systems Project can help.

Philosophical Counselling And Mediation Theory And Practice: Exploring A Pathway To Justice, Nayha Acharya

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This paper will demonstrate how philosophical counselling would invaluably contribute to the arena of conflict resolution via mediation and civil justice generally. Mediation is a conflict resolution process that involves a third party who facilitates disputants in arriving at a self-determined resolution. This process is being incorporated into civil justice systems globally, but how mediation should be conducted to achieve truly just outcomes needs immediate and thoughtful attention. At its best, mediation empowers parties to co-create a just and fair resolution to their conflict through a dialogical exploration of their interests, needs, and relevant norms and values. This is dramatically …

Exploring The Role Of Mandatory Mediation In Civil Justice, Nayha Acharya

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In this article, I offer a framing of the debates around mandatory mediation that rest on the premise that a legitimate civil justice process depends on unhindered access to an adjudicative system, which must be recognized as a procedural right. This is a keystone of the rule of law, and a valid legal system that deserves the authority that it asserts is contingent on this. My central thesis is that requiring mediation (which is independent of the rule of law) before allowing full access to adjudication compromises the procedural rights of legal subjects, and the rule of law principle. Such …

Using Real Practice Systems Resources In Practice, John M. Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post describes how mediators can use ideas and materials from the Real Practice Systems Project to better understand and improve their own mediation systems. Mediators’ practice systems are the combination of factors affecting what they do before, during, and after mediation sessions. These systems include their routine procedures and strategies for dealing with recurring challenging situations. Trainers and mediation program administrators can use this to help mediators in their programs.

Resources For Using Real Practice Systems Materials In Teaching, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post describes how faculty can use ideas and materials from the Real Practice Systems Project to help students get realistic understandings of practice. Although the project has generally focused on the systems that mediators develop and use, it can be adapted to understand the perspectives of lawyers acting as advocates in mediation, negotiators, and in legal practice generally. In addition to requiring or recommending that students read publications about real practice systems, faculty could assign students to write papers such as (1) a Stone Soup interview of a practitioner, (2) a description of students’ actual system in simulated or …

Shifting The Central Paradigm To Dispute System Design, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post argues that instead of identifying our field as ADR, we should use dispute system design as our central theoretical framework. Although people often think of DSD as being used only in large organizations, individuals and small practice groups also handle streams of cases and can use these principles and techniques to improve their case management and dispute resolution procedures. DSD is about tailoring dispute systems to the needs of stakeholders, especially disputing parties. Good designs fit the stakeholders’ context and culture so that the dispute processes produce as much satisfaction of the parties’ procedural and substantive goals as …

Houston, We Have A Problem In The Dispute Resolution Field, John M. Lande

Faculty Blogs

Parties are supposed to actively participate in mediation (and other dispute resolution processes to some extent), and thus they need to understand what experts are saying. Lawyers representing clients in mediation especially need to understand the process to fulfill their ethical responsibility of competence. And certainly mediators should understand basic concepts of mediation.

Shestowsky’S Study Supports Value Of Lawyers’ Early Education Of Clients About Their Procedural Options, John M. Lande, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post summarizes parts of Donna Shestowsky’s study on parties’ expectations about the process used to resolve their cases. She writes, “Our findings suggest the value of educating litigants about legal procedures, helping them develop realistic expectations for what each procedure can entail for their situation, and helping them make informed decisions about whether to attend their procedures. . . . Our results suggest how important it is for lawyers to educate their clients about each of their procedural options. Effective education and managing client expectations might lead to the formation of attitudes that reflect realistic expectations, and, in turn, …

Readings And Resources For Teaching, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post provides links to resources that instructors can use when teaching dispute resolution.

Study Of Odr In Family Cases With Positive Results, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post summarizes the results of a study finding that parties who used ODR for child custody, parenting time, or child support matters were more likely to reach agreement and to rate their experience more highly than those who declined to use ODR.

Can Islamic Law Principles Regarding Settlement Of Criminal Disputes Solve The Problem Of The U.S. Mass Incarceration?, Amin R. Yacoub, Becky Briggs

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The mass incarceration crisis in the United States (US) remains a vexing issue to this day. Although the US incarcerated population has decreased by twenty-five percent amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the US remains a leading country in the number of incarcerated people per capita. Focusing on Islamic law principles governing settlement in criminal cases, the rehabilitative approach of the Icelandic criminal justice model, and the powerful role of prosecutors in serving justice, this research argues that integrating settlement and mediation into the prosecutorial proceedings will significantly reduce mass incarceration in the US.

A Reaction To Systemic Inaction: Breaking The Congressional Logjam Where It Counts, Nicholas W. Archibald

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

William Marshall proposed that congressional inaction threatening “the ability of the government to function” should be “subject to constitutional scrutiny.” This article is a response to Marshall’s proposal and offers a potential solution based on alternative dispute resolution rather than the courts. When faced with seemingly insurmountable differences, Congress must look to alternative dispute resolution to reach a breakthrough on critical issues. This paper proposes the creation of a Mediation Office to assist Congress in coming to these breakthroughs. This mechanism could also possibly intervene when the issue is between Congress and the President. Part II of this article will …

Micro-Mediation: A New First Step On The Mixed-Mode Alternative Dispute Resolution Ladder In Higher Education, Joseph C. Alfe

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Higher education is fraught with disputes on both a macro and micro level. In a broad sense, institutions of higher education serve as a focal point for many disparate cultures, economic strata, ages, genders, races, ideologies, and other societal influences, and concentrates them within an insular community. Such an amalgamation of humanity is bound to produce conflicts of all kinds. These disputes can range from the elementary to the criminal. Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 governs disputes rising to the level of sexual harassment or discrimination and are updated by periodic agency updates disseminated through “dear colleague” …

The Legal Profession, Judiciary, And Dispute Resolution, John M. Lande

Faculty Blogs

The January 2022 issue of Dispute Resolution Magazine reports results of a survey of past contributors conducted by Editorial Board co-chairs Andrea Schneider and Michael Moffitt.

This post uses some of the survey responses to suggest that we recognize the legal profession and judiciary as part of the dispute resolution field.

How You Can Build A Mediation Model To Optimize Your Own Cases, John M. Lande

Faculty Blogs

Description of why formal mediation models, such as the facilitative and evaluative models, are incomplete and often misleading. Mediators constantly must answer the question “What do I do now?”, and the formal models don’t help in most situations. Lande suggests how mediators can develop their own, unique mediation models, relying in part on the work of psychologists Kenneth Kressel, Daniel Kahneman, and Amos Tversky.

Pathways To Preferences For Collaborative Conflict Resolution: Disputants’ Process Goals Drive Preferences, Ashley Votruba, Jared Noetzel, Abigail L. Herzfeld

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Understanding individuals’ preferences for how to resolve conflict—specifically legal disputes—has long interested researchers, particularly those considering procedural justice. This study considers the impact of relational factors that influence individuals’ preferences for dispute resolution processes for civil legal issues. Specifically, it examines the impact of self-construal and the relationship between the parties in conflict on preferences for specific features of dispute resolution processes and considers the role of underlying resolution goals as potential mediators in a parallel mediation model. Using a novel paradigm in which the outcome variables of interest focused on specific dispute resolution process features allowed the researchers to …

Litigation About Mediation: A Case Study In Institutionalization, James Coben

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Online Dispute Resolution (Odr): Definitions, Standards, Disability Accessibility, And Legislation, David Allen Larson

Faculty Scholarship

Jurisdictions around the world are increasingly turning to Online Dispute Resolution (‘ODR’) to resolve a variety of disputes. ODR adoption has accelerated primarily because of two reasons. First, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced judicial systems to suspend or severely limit inperson proceedings to control infection rates. Private mediators and arbitrators, likewise, have eliminated or dramatically reduced in-person sessions. Second, judicial systems do not have unlimited !nancial resources. They must always consider ways to provide access to justice as ef!ciently and effectively as possible. ODR may be able to provide signi!cant cost savings. But ODR processes are still new and evolving …

Designing Interdisciplinary, Early Intervention Dispute Resolution Tools To Decrease Evictions And Increase Housing Stability, Christine N. Cimini

Articles

This Article provides a unique glimpse into the development of an early-intervention, pre-court, interdisciplinary dispute resolution project intended to decrease evictions and increase housing stability for recipients of subsidized housing in Seattle. With a grant from the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA), a coalition of non-profit organizations had the rare opportunity to design a dispute resolution system into existence. A dispute system design team was formed and began by examining the interconnected problems of housing instability, eviction, and houselessness. Despite thorough research on dispute system design and extensive meetings with stakeholders, the deign team encountered numerous challenges. This Article identifies the …

The Importance Of Ethics In The Practice Of Mediation, Dorcas Quek Anderson

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

What is the predominant function of ethics for the mediation profession in Singapore? Do ethical principles assume greater significance in light of increasing institutionalisation of mediation programmes in Singapore? What can mediators, mediation advocates and mediation institutions do to ensure consistent adherence to ethical standards? These and other related issues were discussed in a webinar organised by the Singapore Academy of Law in May 2021 featuring Lim Tat, Chuan Wee Meng and this author as panellists, together with See Chern Yang as moderator. This article highlights the notable discussion points of the webinar, including the significance of mediation ethics, common …

Simulations Based On Actual Cases – Why Reinvent The Wheel?, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post describes Debra Berman’s use of materials from actual cases for simulations in her negotiation and mediation courses. She provides litigation documents, including the complaint, motions, and other documents such as discovery requests, disclosures, and scheduling orders as well as a short settlement memo that she drafts. She observed dramatic improvements in her students’ performance. They were excited to work with real cases and were more prepared.

A Strategy Model For Workplace Mediation Success, Brian M. Barry Dr

Articles

The article proposes a three-step model to help workplace mediators decide on the optimum strategy for mediating workplace disputes. The model uses a grid – the Workplace Mediation Strategy Grid – which is based on a modified version of a grid Professor Leonard Riskin developed for categorising mediation orientations (Riskin 1994; Riskin 1996). The model asks the mediator to first consider the nature of the workplace dispute based on three facets of the dispute. This guides the mediator to plot a position on the Grid which represents two fundamental aspects of strategy for mediating that dispute: (1) how broadly the …

Constructing Good Odr Systems, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post presents an article by Amy Schmitz and John Zeleznikow, Intelligent Legal Tech to Empower Self-Represented Litigants. It helps explain why ODR systems sometimes don’t fulfill parties’ needs. The article develops a typology of six functions that various ODR systems perform: case management, triaging, advisory, communication, decision support, and drafting. It includes a great appendix listing ODR systems and which of these functions they perform, noting that some systems perform multiple functions. It argues that artificial intelligence and data analytics have the potential to help self-represented litigants and others pursue remedies and justice.

Teaching Students To Think Like Practitioners, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post summarizes ideas from a presentation focused on how to teach students to think like a mediator. This post applies the same logic to thinking like an advocate in mediation or a negotiator. The techniques can be applied in courses teaching practice skills through simulations, externships, and clinical experiences. The post includes possible teaching assignments.

Swords Into Plowshares: A Pilgrimage For The Css Alabama, William W. Park

Faculty Scholarship

During the American Civil War, Britain sold ships to the Southern Confederacy in breach of neutrality obligations, triggering a dispute with the United States carrying threats of armed conflict. Some American politicians saw the dispute as an opportunity to annex Canada, then a weak assemblage of British colonies. Ultimately, arbitration in Geneva averted war, opening an era of long Anglo-American cooperation. The historical consequence of this landmark 1872 arbitration remains difficult to overstate. In addition to its diplomatic importance, the case introduced significant procedural precedents for international arbitration, including dissenting options, reasoned awards, party-appointed arbitrators, collegial deliberations, and arbitrators’ declarations …

Legal Lying?, Robert Angyal, Nicholas Saady

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Mediation has become very common in the USA and Australia—at least partly because of court-mandated mediation initiatives. Lawyers often represent clients at mediations, so the increased use of mediation makes it important to understand how both jurisdictions regulate lawyers’ advocacy on behalf of their clients during mediation. This article comparatively analyzes how professional standards regulate the truthfulness of lawyers’ advocacy during mediation in Australia and the United States. It focuses on uniform regulation in those jurisdictions. Part One will comparatively analyze the relevant regulations in Australia and the United States, and the types of obligations contained in those regulations—for example, …

Federal Rules Of Platform Procedure, Rory Van Loo

Faculty Scholarship

Tech platforms serve as private courthouses for disputes about speech, lodging, commerce, elections, and reputation. After receiving allegations of defamatory content in top search results, Google must decide between protecting one person's public image and another's profits or speech. Amazon adjudicates disputes between consumers and third-party merchants about defective or counterfeit items. For many small businesses, layoffs and bankruptcy hang in the balance. This Article begins to uncover the processes that these platforms use to resolve disputes and proposes reforms. Other important businesses that intermediate, such as credit card companies ruling on a disputed charge between a merchant and consumer, …

Dwight Golann On A Year Of Zoom Mediations, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post summarizes Dwight Golann’s article, “I Sometimes Catch Myself Looking Angry or Tired …” The Impact of Mediating by Zoom. He concludes, “Mediating by Zoom is a much more positive experience than people expected and will be a large part of the field in the future.”