David Hoffman published an op-ed yesterday in the Christian Science Monitor about why it might have been a good idea to mediate the deal between Microsoft and Yahoo rather than watching it fall apart. As David writes, “When Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer met with Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang earlier this month, what kept them from … Continue reading Mediating Between Microsoft and Yahoo?
So, in the middle of grading this week, I’ve been interviewing research assistants for the summer. Each candidate had to come to the interview with a negotiation story and a lawyer joke (mostly for the purposes of cheering me up during grading!) The following joke is the winner and also a great argument for why … Continue reading Lawyer Jokes & Mediation Confidentiality
I am linking you here to a terrific blog post on a report of an incident that occurred last week at Knox College where John Ashcroft was speaking. During the questioning period after his speech (which was interrupted numerous times) a young woman (daughter of a friend of a friend) asked Ashcroft a terrific question … Continue reading Getting Yelled at by John Ashcroft
I have a good way to avoid grading exams on dispute resolution and, instead, have fun playing with disputes. Let me explain: a few weeks ago at the ABA Section on Dispute Resolution meeting, I participated in a panel on the use of videogames and dispute resolution with Professor Jean Sternlight and Kathleen Goodrich. I … Continue reading Play the News
Divided We Fall is the title of Nick Kristof’s op-ed piece in the New York Times this past Thursday using the political debates as a lovely example of how we all like to view the world from our own little belltower. For those of us who have taught ladder of inference, partisan perceptions, and the … Continue reading Divided We Fall
This past weekend, the Graduate Program in Dispute Resolution here at Marquette hosted noted scholar Bernie Mayer. Bernie was mostly speaking about his book, Beyond Neutrality and, on Saturday, was invited in a point-counterpoint format to discuss his arguments with equally well-noted practitioner Howard Bellman. One point of the discussion was about Bernie’s argument, outlined … Continue reading Crisis in Dispute Resolution?
Many of us were privileged last week at the ABA Section on Dispute Resolution conference in Seattle to hear from Linda Babcock about her new book, Ask for It. This new book is her answer to her previous work, Women Don’t Ask in which she reviews studies (conducted by herself and others) demonstrating that women … Continue reading Ask for It
Last week, I returned from a trip to Europe with 21 law students–an exercise in dispute resolution itself! Seriously, we had a wonderful time and I will, no doubt, be blogging about some of the lessons/speakers/institutions we visited for some time. Today, I wanted to write about our meeting with Professor Alain Verbeke of the … Continue reading Bye, Bye Belgium?
For those of us who have been looking forward to mediation becoming part of the popular culture, another sign that this might happen is the latest career rankings from US News. According to US News, a mediator is one of the best careers for 2008. The site on US News describes the job relatively accurately, … Continue reading One of the 31 Best Careers in 2008? Mediator!
Earlier in the semester, I taught Spaulding v. Zimmerman for the first time in an ethics course versus in a dispute resolution course. And, not completely surprisingly, the frame actually matters. You might remember that Spaulding v. Zimmerman is the case where there is a really nasty car accident. One of the survivors is a … Continue reading Spaulding v. Zimmerman as an Ethics Lesson
