Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Law
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 …
Living With Adr: Evolving Perceptions And Use Of Mediation, Arbitration And Conflict Management In Fortune 1,000 Corporations, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Living With Adr: Evolving Perceptions And Use Of Mediation, Arbitration And Conflict Management In Fortune 1,000 Corporations, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
For the second time in fifteen years, leading counsel at many of the world’s largest corporations participated in a landmark survey of perceptions and experiences with “alternative dispute resolution (ADR)”—mediation, arbitration and other third party intervention strategies intended to produce more satisfactory paths to managing and resolving conflict, including approaches that may be more economical, less formal and more private than court litigation, with more satisfactory and more durable results. Comparing their responses to those of the mid-1990s, significant evolutionary trends are observable. As a group, corporate attorneys have moderated their expectations for ADR. At the same time, more corporations …
The Arbitration Fairness Index: Using A Public Rating System To Skirt The Legal Logjam And Promote Fairer And More Effective Arbitration Of Employment And Consumer Disputes, Thomas J. Stipanowich
The Arbitration Fairness Index: Using A Public Rating System To Skirt The Legal Logjam And Promote Fairer And More Effective Arbitration Of Employment And Consumer Disputes, Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
Recent Supreme Court decisions have heightened concerns about the degree of effective judicial oversight of consumer and employment arbitration under binding predispute agreements. Efforts to address such concerns are largely stymied by a political logjam. Because binding arbitration serves as the adjudicative backdrop for many kinds of consumer disputes or employer-employee conflict, the choice of arbitration and the kind of justice available under arbitration agreements may be every bit as important as consumer warranties and other substantive rights and remedies. Yet consumers and employees tend to know very little about arbitration and how it affects their rights and obligations; arbitration …
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 …
Adr And The 'Vanishing Trial': The Growth And Impact Of 'Alternative Dispute Resolution', Thomas J. Stipanowich
Adr And The 'Vanishing Trial': The Growth And Impact Of 'Alternative Dispute Resolution', Thomas J. Stipanowich
Thomas J. Stipanowich
In the past quarter-century, significant changes have occurred in the ways lawyers approach conflict. There have been unprecedented efforts to develop strategies aimed at more efficient, less costly, and more satisfying resolution of conflict, including more extensive and appropriate use of mediation and other “alternative dispute resolution” (ADR) approaches. This study examines what we know and do not know about the growth and impact of ADR in federal and state courts, in the business sector, and in employment and consumer settings. The analysis examines the relationship between ADR and court trial, but also underlines the broader uses of and rationale …
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 …