I spoke with a reporter from Bloomberg BNA yesterday about Jackson v. Amazon.com, Inc. (oral argument 11/17/22). The case raises a number of interesting arbitration issues: whether Amazon’s broad arbitration clause includes a worker’s privacy claim (Amazon was monitoring employee’s discussions on social media), whether a federal court’s decision that an Amazon last-mile driver is … Continue reading Amazon Tries to Avoid Class Action in California
It’s hard to believe that more than a month has passed since we welcomed people in person and virtually to the 15th Annual AALS DR Section Works-in-Progress Conference here at the University of Oregon. We had almost sixty registrants, in Eugene and over Zoom, and we saw thirty-six presentations over 1.5 days. It was such … Continue reading The WIP in Pictures
For those among us who teach Professional Responsibility / Ethics courses as well as ADR, just a quick nod (or reminder nod) to the Dolan & Kennedy DC Bar Discipline case available here. The facts are not terribly complicated, although they are pretty horrifying. And the report and recommendation of the Board on Professional Responsibility … Continue reading An Ethics Case with Something for Almost Everyone (who teaches in this field)
This short article presents accounts of ten mediators about the factors affecting how we handle continuing streams of mediations – our mediation systems. We describe our personal histories, values, goals, motivations, knowledge, and skills as well as the parties and the cases we handle. We develop categories of cases, parties, and behavior patterns that lead … Continue reading Ten Real Mediation Systems
There is no good definition of ADR, as described in a recent post. This post suggests that it’s time for a paradigm shift in our field. Instead of identifying our field as ADR, we should use dispute system design (DSD) as our central theoretical framework. Time for a Paradigm Shift Thomas S. Kuhn’s classic book, … Continue reading Shifting the Central Paradigm to Dispute System Design
Carrie Menkel-Meadow (UC-Irvine) has a new book on the market titled Negotiation: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2022). Here’s the Amazon blurb for the book: This Very Short Introduction provides a comprehensive and accessible review of both conceptual and behavioural approaches to the human process of negotiation. Carrie Menkel-Meadow draws on research in constituent fields of human … Continue reading Menkel-Meadow – Negotiation: A Very Short Introduction
If two rocket scientists don’t correctly understand each other’s jargon, things could blow up real fast. If laypeople don’t understand the scientists, however, no problem. It’s quite different in the dispute resolution field. Parties are supposed to actively participate in mediation (and other dispute resolution processes to some extent), and thus they need to understand … Continue reading Houston, We Have a Problem in the Dispute Resolution Field
I’m happy to announce that the Center for Negotiation & Dispute Resolution at UC Hastings will be hosting a lunchtime ADR workshop on Gary Spitko’s (Santa Clara) new work in progress, entitled Arbitration Secrecy. Professor Spitko is a Visiting Professor of Law at UC Hastings this semester. The workshop will hold on November 17, 2022, … Continue reading UC Hastings Lunchtime ADR Workshop on Arbitration Secrecy
Andrea has kindly asked me to post this announcement for CJCR’s Melnick Symposium on Nov. 18th (live and on Zoom!) while her access to the blog is getting straightened out since she moved to Cardozo. Go here to register and the details are below. Join the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution on November 18, 2022 … Continue reading Negotiation Strategies for War by Other Means — Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution’s Melnick Symposium
Readers of Indisputably may be interested in this job opportunity that was recently brought to my attention: Search for the Director, William D. Ruckelshaus Center Washington State University & University of Washington Seattle, WA The William D. Ruckelshaus Center seeks an experienced and visionary leader to serve as the next Director. Inspired by the life … Continue reading Job Posting in Conflict Resolution
