As everyone who follows the news of the day knows, there was a little dust-up in Cambridge, Mass. last week. (If you need a primer to catch up, go here). President Obama is scheduled today to meet and have a beer with Cambridge Police Officer, Sgt. James Crowley and Harvard faculty member Henry Louis Gates, … Continue reading President Obama – Mediator in Chief
Here’s another comment, this one by Cliff Palefsky, a San Francisco lawyer with a substantial arbitration practice. Regulation is the price you pay for the elimination of true consent. As the National Academy [of Arbitrators] said, “without volunariness, arbitration lacks moral and legal justification.” Statistics in the end are meaningless. Anyone who truly loves the … Continue reading NAF Commentary – Part II
Several people who are interested in the NAF settlement (see here) and the recent commentary to a Congressional Committee (see here) have been discussing these things in an interesting an email exchange. I’ve asked permission to put a few comments up here on the blog, and will see if I can’t get permission for more. … Continue reading Commentary on the NAF Lawsuit
The Minnesota Attorney General filed suit today against the National Arbitration Forum alleging multiple counts of consumer fraud in violation of Minnesota law. The suit stems from an allegation that both the NAF and many of the collection firms that regularly use its services are owned, at least in part, by the same company. Business … Continue reading Minnesota AG sues the National Arbitration Forum
The ABA’s Dispute Resolution Section has just issued its Call for Proposals for the Section’s annual meeting next April in San Francisco. A copy of the Call for Proposals can be seen here, and the proposal form can be accessed here. As an fyi, priority is given to proposals that introduce new and innovative concepts, … Continue reading Call for Proposals – ABA Dispute Resolution Section Conference
Professor Susan Franck at Washington and Lee has an interesting new paper about investment treaty arbitration that just hit SSRN. The paper disputes assertions of certain governments (like Bolivia and Ecuador) that suggest the investment treaty process is unfairly tilted against the developing world. In addition it makes a case for using ADR and Dispute … Continue reading Development and Outcomes of Investment Treaty Arbitration
In contrast to the election turmoil occurring in Iran, an interesting alternative for settling an election occurred in suburban Phoenix yesterday. The City of Cave Creek recently had an election for their city council and two candidates had a runoff election for the last council seat. They ended up tied with 660 votes each. How did … Continue reading Elections and Dispute Resolution – A Card Game
On Tuesday, NPR’s afternoon news show All Things Considered aired a piece on arbitration. The piece is interesting, but not favorable. It shares several compelling stories – a female Halliburton employee who was raped by co-workers in Iraq and has to arbitrate her claims against the company, the Public Citizen study where consumers lost 94% of the … Continue reading NPR Story on the “Arbitration Debate”
I’m furiously working on an article and thought I’d seek some input on my line of reasoning about one’s “bottom-line” in negotiations. The ABA’s standing ethics committee has two opinions stating that the “bottom line” is a material fact under Rule 4.1, and as a result, you cannot lie about what your bottom line (and … Continue reading Negotiation Ethics and Lying about Your Bottom-Line
I’d like to take this time to remind our law professor readers, who are furiously grading papers like I am, to keep the Boskey Essay competition in mind as you read your students’ papers. If you see a paper that stands out, encourage the student to submit it into the competition. The essay may … Continue reading Reminder – Boskey Essay Competition
