Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons^™

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 …

Confirming Arbitration Awards: Taking The Mystery Out Of A Summary Proceeding, Susan Wiens, Roger S. Haydock

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Technology Mediated Dispute Resolution (Tmdr): A New Paradigm For Adr, David Allen Larson

Faculty Scholarship

Technology is changing the way that children are communicating (particularly elementary and pre-school aged children), and these changes have significant implications for alternative dispute resolution processes and practices. Although ADR practitioners and theorists are not ignoring technology, we have focused almost exclusively on the question of how we can use technology to enhance our existing practices. We are not paying sufficient attention to the fact that young children are communicating differently than we communicate. Insufficient energy is being dedicated to the question of how those differences in communication inevitably influence the way that those children resolve disputes.

The article analyzes …

Technology Mediated Dispute Resolution (Tmdr): Opportunities And Dangers, David Allen Larson

Faculty Scholarship

Technology Mediated Dispute Resolution (TMDR) presents opportunities and dangers that we cannot yet fully envision. Technologies are available or imminent, such as tele-immersion, that will dramatically change the ways we think about dispute resolution in a virtual environment. Whether or not one finds the idea of TMDR appealing, a generation of teens and preteens is integrating technology so deeply into their daily lives that they not only will expect, but will demand, that those technologies be used in a dispute resolution proceeding. Because girls communicate differently than boys when using technology, it will be interesting to learn if women prove …

Federal Court Special Masters: A Vital Resource In The Era Of Complex Litigation, Mark A. Fellows, Roger S. Haydock

William Mitchell Law Review

This article is dedicated to all those who have served as special masters in federal court. After serving as a judicial master, it is easy to believe in the importance of the role in our grand system of justice. After reading this article, we hope it will be clear how vital masters are to everyone receiving fair, just, and expedient civil justice.

2004 Special Masters Conference: Transcript Of Proceedings, Various Special Masters

William Mitchell Law Review

A historic gathering of special masters occurred on October 15th and 16th, 2004 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Federal and state court-appointed masters from around the country met for the first time to share their experiences as special masters and to form a national association of court appointed masters. This issue of the William Mitchell Law Review contains articles presented at the conference and the transcript of faculty presentations. Throughout the transcript of faculty presentations, the word “speaker” denotes a conference attendee.

Learning From Practice: What Adr Needs From A Theory Of Justice, Kate Kruse

Faculty Scholarship

Adding to the impressive body of work that has made her a leading voice in the fields of both alternative dispute resolution and professional responsibility, Carrie Menkel-Meadow's Saltman Lecture connects the theoretical exploration currently occurring on two parallel tracks: (1) theories of justice that investigate the ideal of a deliberative democracy; and (2) theories of alternative dispute resolution arising from its reflective practice. As she notes, theorists on both tracks are grappling with similar questions about the processes or conditions that will best bring together parties with widely divergent viewpoints to consensus-building dialogue around contested issues.

While Menkel-Meadow focuses on …

Gollum, Meet Smeagol: A Schizophrenic Rumination On Mediator Values Beyond Self Determination And Neutrality, James Coben

Faculty Scholarship

The author asserts that the exclusive reliance on the "Two Towers" of self-determination and neutrality as the foundation for mediation practice has inevitably left us with a process routinely characterized by mediator manipulation and deception. The "tricks" are tolerated by sophisticated repeat players, and absent transparency in practice, disturbingly not known to others. The evolution of mediation, from empowerment/community roots to corporate/court sustenance, is no surprise given the nation's journey through the Reagan revolution, the ideology of free markets, and the Supreme Court's unbridled support for freedom to contract in disputing. In short, mediation is at a crossroads needing to …

The Legal Foundation–Defining The Legislative Format, William W. Huss, Sharon Press, J. Michael Mcwilliams

Faculty Scholarship

Current and pending mediation legislative programs in the United States, Canada, and other countries were examined by speakers and panelists who are living under these new systems or were authors of their design. Topics included court annexed programs, mandatory programs, voluntary programs, private institutional programs, the Uniform Mediation Act, state and federal initiatives, and the impact each has, or will have, on the mediation practice.

Terminating Public School Teachers For Cause Under Minnesota Law, Christine D. Ver Ploeg

William Mitchell Law Review

It is important to understand the realities that surround the discharge of a teacher, for embarking upon this path promises to be painful for everyone involved. Teachers who challenge allegations that they are personally or professionally unworthy of continuing to teach in their districts--or perhaps to continue to teach at all--understandably experience extraordinary trauma and anxiety. By the same token, districts that ultimately fail to prove the case for discharge can face significant financial liability and may even be forced to reinstate teachers who have been found to be deficient. Finally, these efforts often divide schools and communities because teachers, …

Case Note: Contracts—Into The Void: Minnesota Limits Application Of The Prima Paint Doctrine—Onvoy, Inc. V. Shal, Llc, Mikel D. Johnson

William Mitchell Law Review

This note first gives a brief overview of arbitration use in the United States. It then discusses the Onvoy decision and provides an analysis of the Minnesota Supreme Court’s ruling. Finally, the note concludes that the court’s holding properly weighs Minnesota’s strong presumption in favor of arbitration against the need to allow access to the courts.

Out Of The Frying Pan, Into The Fire: The Feasibility Of Post-Dispute Employment Arbitration Agreements, Lewis L. Maltby

William Mitchell Law Review

Changing the law to enforce only post-dispute agreements to arbitrate will not solve the problems of arbitration as a condition of employment. This change would leave the majority of employees who need arbitration in order to obtain justice empty handed, which is a situation far worse than the one employees face today. Rather than change from one unacceptable option to another, models for voluntary pre-dispute arbitration agreements need to be further developed.

Summer Musings On Curricular Innovations To Change The Lawyer's Standard Philosophical Map, James Coben

Faculty Scholarship

When Hamline’s participation in the FIPSE grant was announced several years ago, the Hamline community saw an opportunity to help achieve the stated strategic-plan objective to ensure that every graduating student “will have basic knowledge about ADR and the opportunity for simulation experience with ADR.” The FIPSE grant working-group established the following objectives to guide the curriculum-development effort: (a) emphasize the importance of ADR by formally recognizing it as “substance,” (b) help students confront the standard philosophical map of lawyers and promote an “alternative” definition of lawyer as “problem-solver,” (c) provide a baseline familiarity with rule vs. interest and position …

Civil Justice Reform Symposium: Introduction, James F. Hogg

Faculty Scholarship

Many people in the United States are not happy about the way in which litigation proceeds. In a country sometimes thought to be overpopulated with lawyers, either one party or both parties in a significant percentage of civil cases apparently cannot afford, or decline to retain, legal counsel. Financing for legal aid seems to be less than adequate, pro bono services are helping to some extent, but the administration of civil justice is in danger of sinking in the swamp of pro se ("do-it-yourself') litigation. The articles in this symposium discuss ideas for reform, such as introductory resources directed at …

Institutionalization: Savior Or Saboteur Of Mediation?,, Sharon Press

Faculty Scholarship

This article is a reflection on the history and spread of the field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The author focuses on the increased institutionalization of ADR – particularly in relation to mediation within the court system, with examples drawn from Florida’s experience.

What Happens When Mediation Is Institutionalized?: To The Parties, Practitioners And Host Institutions, Sharon Press

Faculty Scholarship

The Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the Association of American Law Schools presented a program, at the 1994 AALS Conference, on the institutionalization of mediation – through court-connected programs and otherwise. The topic is an important one, because this phenomenon has become increasingly common. Moreover, the topic seemed especially appropriate for the 1994 program, since Florida – the host state for the conference – was one of the first states to adopt a comprehensive statute providing for court-ordered mediation (at the trial judge’s option) in civil disputes of all kinds. The move toward institutionalizing mediation has raised many questions, and …

Building And Maintaining A Statewide Mediation Program: A View From The Field, Sharon Press

Faculty Scholarship

Written in 1992, this article attempts to provide guidance to states seeking to improve the judicial system through increased use of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) mechanisms. The format most often selected is the establishment of statewide mediation offices. Part I of this article identifies the issues that should be addressed by any group wishing to establish a statewide court-connected mediation program. Part II presents an analysis of Florida’s experience in establishing a statewide court mediation program as an example of how these issues were resolved in practice by a state that has implemented a court-connected mediation program. This article concludes …

Comparable Worth In Arbitration, Christine D. Ver Ploeg

Faculty Scholarship

In 1992 Minnesota became a pioneer in the arena of equal pay for equal work by enacting the Minnesota Local Government Pay Equity Act/Comparable Worth Law (“CWL”), which allocated nearly $22 million to remedy wage disparities between female dominated and male dominated classes at the state level. Each local government had to determine a new pay level for public employees taking into account whether it was a male or female dominated field. Many of these determinations were challenged by unions basing their challenges on two primary themes: (1) the methodologies used were flawed; (2) the determinations were invalid because the …

Unions And Urinalysis, Deborah A. Schmedemann

Faculty Scholarship

Many private employers seem to be busy deciding whether and how to test employees for drug use. Presumably most of these decisions are made by management acting alone. However, in unionized workplaces—one out of five private sector employees are represented by unions—federal labor law prescribes a different method. That method features collective bargaining by unions and management to set the rules, the use of a private third-party neutral to resolve disputes which arise under those rules (arbitration), and relatively little involvement by the government (the National Labor Relations Board, legislatures, and the courts). This system that labor law prescribes for …

Bandwagon Is Rolling: Adr Demands And Thrives On Lawyers Creative Thinking, Christine D. Ver Ploeg

Faculty Scholarship

The ADR (alternative dispute resolution) bandwagon is rolling. Clients are becoming disenchanted with traditional litigation, and they're hearing about ADR. ADR has three broad categories: mediation, the mini-trial, and arbitration. Attorneys can provide a real service to clients by being familiar with and developing skills in ADR.