Law Commons^™

Integrating Investment Treaty Conflict And Dispute Systems Design, Susan Franck

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

With the debate on the renewal of the Trade Promotion Authority Act, the proper terms of investment treaties - including dispute resolution provisions - have become an issue of public scrutiny. In a so-called litigation explosion, investors resolve disputes against host governments through international arbitration mechanisms in investment treaties; and there is little evidence of reliance on other processes like mediation. This escalation has lead to a teething period where parties and non-parties have expressed divergent views as to the efficacy, efficiency and fairness of the dispute resolution process. With billions of dollars and sovereignty at stake, the dispute resolution …

The Arbitration Penumbra: Arbitration Law And The Rapidly Changing Landscape Of Dispute Resolution, Thomas J. Stipanowich

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Is That All There Is?: "The Problem" In Court-Oriented Mediation, Nancy A. Welsh, Leonard L. Riskin

Nancy A Welsh

The “alternative” process of mediation is now well-institutionalized in the courts and widely (though not universally) perceived to save time and money and satisfy lawyers and litigants. However, the process has failed to meet important aspirations of its early proponents and certain expectations and needs of one-shot players. In particular, court-oriented mediation now reflects the dominance and preferences of lawyers and insurance claims adjusters. These repeat players understand “the problem” to be addressed in personal injury, employment, contract, medical malpractice and other civil non-family disputes as a matter of merits assessment and litigation risk analysis. Mediation is structured so that …

Is That All There Is?: "The Problem" In Court-Oriented Mediation, Nancy Welsh, Leonard L. Riskin

Nancy Welsh

News Media As Mediators, Carol Pauli

Faculty Scholarship

Journalism thrives on conflict, a classic "news value," which can make a story newsworthy. As a result, the normal routines of reporters and editors tend to emphasize extreme voices and combative themes, triggering the criticism that news coverage of an event is "more likely to escalate a conflict than to pacify it."

Even so, journalism has made some legendary journeys into conflict resolution. In 1977, for example, CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite conducted separate interviews with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which led directly to Sadat's historic visit to Jerusalem. In 1985, Ted Koppel, in …

Mediation, Improvisations, And All That Jazz, John W. Cooley

Journal of Dispute Resolution

In the present article, we will be exploring the subject of improvisation generally from the perspective of mediation and jazz as performance arts; the roles of the jazz musician, the mediator, and the mediation advocate as creative problem solvers; the elements of jazz in mediation; and the collective conversation in jazz as compared with the collective conversation in mediation.

Sacrificing Settlement Agreements In The Name Of Mediation Confidentiality: The California Supreme Court's Narrow Holding Has Harsh Consequence, Laura J. Bettenhausen

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Confidentiality is regarded as one of the primary benefits of mediation. For parties who wish to avoid the public eye, mediation is often preferable to court. However, when parties reach some form of a settlement agreement during mediation, and subsequently disagree as to the terms of that agreement, the parties may find themselves in court. In court, the issue of whether the settlement agreement is admissible arises. In Fair v. Bakhtiari, the California Supreme Court addressed the question of whether an arbitration provision listed in a settlement agreement renders the agreement admissible under the California Evidence Code. The court emphasized …

Mediator As Cook: Mediation Metaphors At The Movies, The, Jennifer L. Schulz

Journal of Dispute Resolution

In this article I will explore the vitality of the metaphor of the mediator as cook by tracing it through other food and conflict resolution related films. In so doing, I hope to achieve two things: first, to continue to insist that non-adversarial processes like mediation be included in the study of Law & Film, and second, to show that the metaphor suggested for mediators based on one film, resonates in other films and suggests new insights about mediator style and practice. Through a Law & Film analysis of two films, Soul Food and Mostly Martha, I will argue that …

From Face-To-Face To Screen-To-Screen: Real Hope Or True Fallacy, Philippe Gilliéron

Philippe Gilliéron

The development of e-commerce involves the implementation of effective Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) methods. While the enactment of ODR methods is made particularly easy thanks to the technological tools at disposal, their mere implementation does still not ensure their efficiency. ODR has drawn much attention in legal scholarships in recent years. Strangely enough, hardly any scholar has however focused on a key factor for the good development of ODR: differences between face-to-face and computer-mediated interactions. After having described the current state of literature related to ODR, I shall focus more specifically on these differences based upon experiments conducted in the …

Listening To Experienced Users, John M. Lande

Faculty Publications

In response to concerns about poor-quality mediation services in commercial cases, the Section of Dispute Resolution recently established a Task Force to develop realistic proposals to increase the quality and use of commercial mediation. As an initial step, the Task Force on Improving Mediation Quality conducted focus groups with experienced mediation users. This article summarizes key findings from the initial sets of focus groups. We found that focus group participants have nuanced understandings of the mediation process, their role in it, and the qualities they want in a mediator. In general, focus group participants want better access to information about …

News Media As Mediators (Cardozo J. Conflict Resol.), Carol Pauli

Faculty Scholarship

This paper explores journalism as a potential method of conflict resolution. Part I compares the norms and practices of journalism to those of facilitative mediation. Part II draws additional parallels between some aspects of journalism and two other forms of dispute resolution: transformative mediation and adjudication. Part III suggests some areas for encouragement and some areas for caution as peace journalists import conflict resolution techniques into news reporting and writing.

Misjudging: Implications For Dispute Resolution, Donna Shestowsky

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Adr Gone Wild!: One State’S Experience With A Radical Trust And Estate Dispute Resolution Act, Kirsten M. Elliott

Kirsten M Elliott

This paper explores one state’s use of a radical alternative dispute resolution act in the area of wills and trusts. While the primary focus of this paper is to explore a unique Washington law –the Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act (TEDRA) – it is important to note that similar, if not identical sets of statutes exist in other states. TEDRA was passed in 1999 as a means for providing for mandatory alternative dispute resolution in the area of trusts and estates, namely mediation, arbitration, or private agreement between the parties. Recently, Idaho passed a nearly identical Act and these …

Mediation Case Law Data Coding Sheet, James Coben, Peter Thompson

Mediation Case Law Data

No abstract provided.

Mediation Case Law Dataset 1999-2005, James Coben, Peter N. Thompson

Mediation Case Law Data

No abstract provided.

Mediation At The End Of Life: Getting Beyond The Limits Of The Talking Cure, Thaddeus Mason Pope, Ellen A. Waldman

Faculty Scholarship

Mediation has been touted as the magic band-aid to solve end-of-life conflicts. When families and health care providers clash at the end of life, bioethicists and conflict theorists alike have seized upon mediation as the perfect procedural balm. Dissonant values, tragic choices, and roiling grief and loss would be confronted, managed, and soothed during the emotional alchemy of the mediation process. But what is happening in a significant subset of end-of-life disputes is not mediation as we traditionally understand it. Mediation's allure stems from its promise to excavate underlying needs and interests, identify common ground, and push disputants toward more …

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 …

Following The Script: An Empirical Analysis Of Court-Ordered Mediation Of Medical Malpractice Cases, Thomas B. Metzloff, Ralph A. Peeples, Catherine T. Harris

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Kramer Vs. Kramer Revisited: A Comment On The Miller Commission Report And The Obligation Of Divorce Lawyers For Parents To Discuss Alternative Dispute Resolution With Their Clients, Andrew Schepard

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

The 2006 Report of New York State's Matrimonial Commission to Chief Judge Kaye (commonly know as the Miller Commission Report) recommended that New York begin to incorporate alternative dispute resolution into the State's fragmented and adversarial divorce system. This Comment argues that it should have more strongly recommended that divorce lawyers be mandated to discuss alternative dispute resolution, particularly mediation, with parent-clients before filing suit.

The Comment begins by describing the advice given to a parent client in the movie Kramer vs. Kramer and argues that that advice constitutes zealous advocacy as famously described by Henry Lord Brougham in Queen …

When Lawyers Move Their Lips: Attorney Truthfulness In Mediation And A Modest Proposal, Donald C. Peters

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article examines whether the punch line that you can tell when lawyers are lying by confirming that their lips are moving applies to their conduct when negotiating in mediations. General surveys of lawyer honesty suggest that this perception probably does apply to the way lawyers negotiate in mediations. Only 20% of people surveyed in a 1993 American Bar Association poll described the legal profession as honest, and that number fell to 14% in a 1998 Gallup poll. However, research demonstrates a connection between honest negotiating and perceived effectiveness. A study of 5,000 Denver and Phoenix lawyers found that honest, …

Following The Script: An Empirical Analysis Of Court-Ordered Mediation Of Medical Malpractice Cases, Ralph Peeples, Catherine Harris, Thomas Metzloff

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Court-ordered mediation of civil cases has become an accepted part of the litigation process in a number of states and in some federal courts.' The widespread growth of court-ordered mediation is not difficult to explain. First of all, the process appears to produce settlements, although because most cases settle anyway, it is difficult to say that court-ordered mediation reduces trial rates. It does, however, at least provide a structured opportunity for settlement discussions, if the parties are so inclined. Second, court-ordered mediation is a process usually paid for by the parties themselves. From the courts' perspective, it is not a …

When Lawyers Move Their Lips: Attorney Truthfulness In Mediation And A Modest Proposal, Don Peters

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This article examines whether the punch line that you can tell when lawyers are lying by confirming that their lips are moving applies to their conduct when negotiating in mediations. General surveys of lawyer honesty suggest that this perception probably does apply to the way lawyers negotiate in mediations. Only 20% of people surveyed in a 1993 American Bar Association poll described the legal profession as honest, and that number fell to 14% in a 1998 Gallup poll.' A more recent poll revealed that one-third of the American public believes that lawyers are less truthful than most people.

"It's Not About The Money!": A Theory On Misconceptions Of Plaintiffs' Litigation Aims, Tamara Relis

Scholarly Works

This Article examines from a new angle a long-standing debate on a central question of the legal system: why plaintiffs sue and what they seek from litigation. Legal research has documented various extra-legal aims or non-economic agendas of plaintiffs who commence legal proceedings for various case-types. However, current debates have failed to address this issue in depth from the perspectives of plaintiffs themselves, subsequent to lawyers conditioning them on legal system realities and translating their disputes into legally cognizable compartments. Nor have understandings of plaintiffs' aims been examined from the perspectives of defense lawyers. These are significant gaps in the …

Consequences Of Power, Tamara Relis

Scholarly Works

This Article challenges a basic premise that litigants and their attorneys broadly understand and desire similar things from litigation-track mediation processes. In providing new empirical research from medical malpractice cases, I offer disconcerting evidence of the surprising degree to which perceptions and meanings ascribed to these litigation-track processes are not only diverse, but frequently contradictory. I demonstrate that notwithstanding their different allegiances, lawyers on all sides of cases have correspondingly similar understandings of the meaning and purpose of litigation-track mediations. At the same time, I show how plaintiffs and defendants have the same understandings and visions of what mediation is …

The Secret To Success: An Examination Of New York State Mediation Related Litigation, Andrew N. Weisberg

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Comment examines the difficulties in using alternative dispute resolution, specifically mediation, to settle disputes between parties. While mediation is meant to lighten the courts' caseload, it occasionally results in post-settlement issues concerning the mediated agreement, leaving the court to determine whether the agreement should be enforced. This Comment examines such enforcement issues, specifically how often enforcement issues arise and the typical grounds on which parties rely to vacate or modify mediated agreements. It discusses the research conducted on New York State cases decided between 1/1/2004 and 10/31/2006 and describes research conducted by Hamline University School of Law Professors James …

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 …

The Arbitration Penumbra: Arbitration Law And The Rapidly Changing Landscape Of Dispute Resolution, Thomas J. Stipanowich

Thomas J. Stipanowich

After a generation of growing emphasis on informal methods of conflict resolution, the surrounding legal landscape remains "aimless, meandering, and . . . confusing." The "penumbra" of arbitration law - a body of judicial decisions involving application of federal or state arbitration statutes to processes that are to one degree or another different from "classic" arbitration, or to the interface between arbitration and earlier stages in multi-step dispute resolution processes - reflects the failure of courts to articulate clear and well-reasoned approaches to the new generation of dispute resolution tools. The application of arbitration law entails a variety of specific …

'Real Time' Strategies For Relational Conflict, Thomas J. Stipanowich

Thomas J. Stipanowich

The emergence of mediation and other informal approaches for the efficient, effective resolution of conflict represent opportunities for “thin-slicing” that are revolutionizing public and private dispute resolution. They are also challenging the primacy of litigation and arbitration with their emphasis on extensive information exchange and weighty procedure. Today, more and more disputants and counsel are recognizing that less is usually more—especially when the emphasis is on maintaining relationships or relational systems. The need for speedy and effective intervention has promoted the evolution of a wide range of strategies in very different relational settings, from integrated conflict systems in the workplace …