Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons^™

Ending Forced Arbitration Of Sexual Assault And Sexual Harassment, Lizzie Neuburger

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution (CJCR) Blog

Mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts are standard, limiting legal remedies available to employees who are sexual harassment and sexual assault victims and serving as a potential barrier to justice. However, the rise of the 2017 #MeToo movement revealed the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault, triggering lawmakers to focus on legal reforms for these areas in the workplace.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution website on April 25, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.

Mental Health Matters Act, Not Just Mental Health, Ethan Krantz

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution (CJCR) Blog

The Mental Health Matters Act, HR 7780, passed the House on September 29, 2022, by a vote of 220–205. The proposed resolution, currently awaiting a vote in the Senate, authorizes funding for the development of curricula that improve mental health for children, relaxes requirements for required documentation of disabilities, and allocates funding to research workplace stress across all industries in the wake of COVID-19. These provisions characterize bipartisan support to expand mental health resources and services for students and professionals.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution website on April 19, 2023. The original post …

Problem-Resolution Lawyering Across The Twenty-First Century Law Curriculum, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post highlights an article by Kris Franklin and F. Peter Phillips. They argue, “Framing lawyers’ professional role as helping clients resolve problems – and therefore in turn, conceiving law school coursework as preparation for that role – should alter teaching, learning, and law practice in ways that inevitably improves each.” The article includes “exemplars” of ways to shift the legal curriculum to focus on lawyers as problem resolution partners.

A Proposal For The Joint Development Of Generative Ai For The Dispute Resolution Profession, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post by Gary Doernhoefer proposes the development of a data set for the dispute resolution profession as the basis for AI systems. The ideal model would be for a collaboration in the dispute resolution field to create the refined data set, establish guardrails, and set privacy parameters for the use of the data. This would involve a centralized advisory board to address concerns such as (1) privacy requirements for how the queries are received, stored, and used, (2) the expertise needed to curate additional training materials, (3) shared costs of development, and (4) gaining the cooperation of industry authors …

Lights, Camera, Mediation: Why Public Figures In The Entertainment Industry Are Turning To Adr Processes To Resolve Their Disputes, Halle Jaffe

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution (CJCR) Blog

Imagine walking up the cold, stone stairs leading into a courthouse: your heart is pounding, your palms are sweaty, and you are fearful as to what the judge or jury who patiently await your arrival may decide. To make matters worse, you are surrounded by dozens of flashing lights, reporters are firing questions left and right, and your face will appear on every news outlet in the country within seconds.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution website on April 12, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.

To Strike Or Not To Strike: The Call For Mandatory Adr In Private Teaching Union Disputes, Jessica Lalehzar

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution (CJCR) Blog

In November of 2022, nearly 1,800 adjunct faculty members at The New School in New York City went on a three-week long strike. The strike came after the university “failed to raise wages in pace with inflation,” prompting hundreds of students and faculty to walk out. The strike became the United States’s longest ever by adjunct faculty, which compose 90% of the university’s faculty. Many classes were cancelled as a result, leading to frustration among students and parents during a critical point in the semester. The union representing adjunct faculty, the ACT-UAW Local 7902, faced difficulty in reaching a negotiation …

Pass The Salt: Problem-Resolution Lawyering Across The Twenty-First Century Law Curriculum, Kris Franklin, F. Peter Phillips

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Attorneys work with clients to resolve problems. Legal education can help prepare law graduates to do that work. As an added bonus, doing so would in turn help law students understand and retain the subjects they study. Law professors who teach alternative dispute resolution, lawyering skills, clinics, and sometimes traditional doctrinal courses, have all called for greater inclusion of dispute resolution in the law school curriculum. Some have urged the introduction of specific courses to prepare contemporary law students to work as problem resolvers. This Article builds on these and other calls for reform, but urges a genuine reconceptualization of …

Masthead & Table Of Contents, Patrick Babajanian

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Pipeline Coordination: The Importance Of Properly Defining An Arbitral Tribunal’S Authority In Gas Price Review Arbitration, Aikaterini (Katerina) Karamousalidou

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Unprecedented events in international gas commerce have significantly increased gas pricing disputes. International arbitration, as a neutral and binding process, offers a plethora of advantages to international players of the energy industry who are interested in resolving their disputes in an efficient way. However, gas price review is extremely complex. In particular, a gas price review clause is what delineates an arbitrator’s mandate and hence, arbitrators must be prudent to pay careful attention to act within the boundaries of their authority. Failure to do so may result in the award being set aside. This paper addresses: (1) the determination of …

Shifting Into “Neutral”: Evaluating Mediation As A Peaceful Alternative To The Forceful Resolution Of The 2022 Canada–Freedom Convoy Dispute, Teresa (Tessa) Griego

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

In early 2022, the Canadian government found itself confronted by a group of truck drivers—in what came to be known as the “Freedom Convoy”—protesting government-imposed restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article evaluates how mediation could—and should—have been used as an effective means for the government and protestors to resolve their dispute. It begins by defining the government health and safety measures that prompted the protests and describing the ensuing protest movement by the Freedom Convoy. The article then discusses the protest’s implications on commerce and on the communities where it was located. Next, the article describes the unilateral …

The New Normal: Navigating Legal Challenges In The World Of Influencer Marketing & How Adr Can Help, Olivia Davis

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Calming The Caucasus: Neutralizing Azerbaijan’S Military “Batna” To Restart The Peace Process In Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), Patrick Babajanian

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The article begins by surveying the historical background of the Artsakh conflict, from its ancient roots to the immediate aftermath of the 2020 war. It then introduces the key issue I identify as obstructing the peace process from resuming, namely Azerbaijan’s calculation that its military BATNA outweighs any value of continued negotiation. Next, the article evaluates two legal tactics the United States could implement in its national capacity to correct this situation, focusing on actions intended to limit Azerbaijan’s military strength by withholding foreign aid and enacting targeted sanctions, with the goal of achieving greater parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan …

Web3 And Adr: Is Decentralized Adr The Answer To Blockchain Dispute Resolution?, Avi Kafka

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution (CJCR) Blog

We live in a new digital reality. Along with new Web3 foundational technologies and uses like blockchain, DAOs, and the metaverse, new kinds of conflicts arise that courts are not properly situated to handle. With these new technologies come important theoretical and practical discussions on ADR concerning blockchain and smart contracts.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution website on April 3, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.

Kukin Program Newsletter – Spring 2023, Kukin Program For Conflict Resolution

Kukin Program Newsletters

The Kukin Program Newsletter – Spring 2023 highlights significant events and achievements in Cardozo Law's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) initiatives. Key features include Gloria Steinem receiving the 22nd International Advocate for Peace Award, presentations by Securities Arbitration Clinic students to the SEC, and global representation at the ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition and other ADR competitions. The newsletter also covers impactful symposiums, such as "Negotiation Strategies for War by Other Means," and showcases the activities of the Cardozo Dispute Resolution Society and the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution. Alumni achievements, faculty contributions, and new publications further demonstrate the program's dedication …

A Call For Evidence-Based Research In Adr, Methura Sinnadurai, Benjamin Vanderwindt, Patricia Mcmahon, Trevor C. W. Farrow

Articles & Book Chapters

In any three-year period, almost half the adult population in Canada will experience at least one justiciable civil or family problem. Few, however, will have the resources to resolve their legal problems, thus highlighting longstanding barriers that make access to justice such a pressing issue in Canada. Among many global justice initiatives, a prominent call to action is Goal 16 of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which commits nations to work towards ensuring equal access to justice for all by 2030. Although there is no single strategy to achieve this, evidence-based practices in all areas of civil and …

Real Mediation Systems To Help Parties And Mediators Achieve Their Goals, John M. Lande

Faculty Publications

This article argues that it is time for a paradigm shift in our current general mediation theory because of numerous problems. Our current theory is incomplete at best and seriously misleading at worst. The traditional mediation models are oversimplified, poorly mapping onto the reality of practice. They combine multiple elements that are not necessarily correlated. Many practitioners ignore them because they are confusing or not helpful. People do not understand the theoretical meanings because the terms are not consistent with commonly understood language. Arguments about what is or is not real or good mediation have spawned unhelpful ideological divisions in …

#Metoo’S Landmark, Yet Flawed, Impact On Dispute Resolution: The Ending Forced Arbitration Of Sexual Assault And Sexual Harassment Act Of 2021, Imre S. Szalai

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

On March 3, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (the Amendment) into law. This Amendment is the most significant change in the last several decades to the Federal Arbitration Act (the FAA), the main federal law governing arbitration since 1925. This landmark Amendment is also the most important federal legislation to arise thus far from the #MeToo movement. The Amendment invalidates predispute arbitration agreements in cases involving sexual harassment or sexual assault, thereby allowing survivors to proceed with their claims in public court with more robust procedural protections. …

Disability And Transnational Arbitration: Human Rights Linkages And Reasonable Accommodations, Ilias Bantekas

William & Mary Business Law Review

Disability intersects with arbitration as regards the mental capacity of a party to enter into an arbitration agreement, the appointment of arbitrators with disability and grounds for removal thereof, accommodations during arbitral proceedings for arbitrators and counsel with disabilities, as well as the costs for all appropriate accommodations. This Article demonstrates that the right to a fair trial, which is universally recognized in arbitration, dictates that parties and arbitral institutions be free to select arbitrators of their choice, and no impediments may be imposed against arbitrators with disabilities other than that they are able to fulfill the functions of their …

Post-Pandemic Finra Arbitration: To Zoom Or Not To Zoom?, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article contributes to the literature exploring the impact of the pandemic on arbitration and explores whether parties arbitrating their disputes during the pandemic have had access to justice equivalent to the justice that was available pre-pandemic. Though it is difficult to draw any conclusions about FINRA arbitration due to the confidential and non-reasoned nature of awards, the Article focuses on arbitration of securities industry disputes at one forum, FINRA DRS. In particular, the Article analyzes data about FINRA customer arbitrations over the course of the pandemic, from onset in March 2020 through mid-2022, when most municipalities had lifted COVID-19 …

Arbitration And Federal Reform: Recalibrating The Separation Of Powers Between Congress And The Court, Larry J. Pittman

Washington and Lee Law Review

In 1925, Congress, to provide for the enforcement of certain arbitration agreements, enacted the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) as a procedural law to be applicable only in federal courts. However, the United States Supreme Court, seemingly for the purpose of reducing federal courts’ caseloads, co-opted the FAA by disregarding Congress’s intent that the FAA be applicable only in federal courts. And in furtherance of its own Court-created “federal policy in favor of arbitration,” the Court created precedents that limit state regulation of arbitration agreements, including that states cannot exempt disputes from forced or mandatory arbitration agreements or otherwise regulate the …