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Musings On Mediation, Kleenex, And (Smudged) White Hats, Nancy A. Welsh Nov 2011

Musings On Mediation, Kleenex, And (Smudged) White Hats, Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay speculates on the global future of mediation. It anticipates that mediation’s popularity will continue to grow both in the U.S. and abroad particularly as courts continue to encourage and institutionalize the process. Meanwhile, the Essay acknowledges the existence and continuing development of a relatively small cadre of elite lawyers and retired judges who serve as private mediators in large, complex matters.

The Essay also raises concerns, though, regarding the current lack of clarity in the goals and procedural characteristics that define mediation. The Essay asserts that such lack of clarity invites abuse of the mediation privilege and exclusionary …


Integrating "Alternative" Dispute Resolution Into Bankruptcy: As Simple (And Pure) As Motherhood And Apple Pie?, Nancy A. Welsh Mar 2011

Integrating "Alternative" Dispute Resolution Into Bankruptcy: As Simple (And Pure) As Motherhood And Apple Pie?, Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

Today, there can be little doubt that “alternative” dispute resolution is anything but alternative. Nonetheless, many judges, lawyers (and law students) do not truly understand the dispute resolution processes that are available and how they should be used. In the shadow of the current economic crisis, this lack of knowledge is likely to have negative consequences, particularly in those areas of practice such as bankruptcy and foreclosure in which clients, lawyers, regulators, and courts work under pressure, often with inadequate time and financial resources to permit careful analysis of procedural options. Potential negative effects can include: (1) impairment of a …


Mandatory Mediation And Its Variations, Nancy A. Welsh Jan 2011

Mandatory Mediation And Its Variations, Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

The use of arbitration to resolve international investment disputes clearly represents an improvement over “gunboat diplomacy” and its implicit threat of violent confrontation. Nonetheless, investors, States and other stakeholders have begun to express dissatisfaction with some elements of arbitration in the international investment treaty context. First, arbitration proceedings can be quite lengthy, and their transaction costs seem to be increasing. Second, parties’ compliance is not guaranteed. Some States suggest they may refuse to abide by arbitral awards. Third, the process focuses parties on their legal rights when non-legal issues may be equally important and useful to achieve resolution. Fourth, arbitration …