CADRE, the National Center on Dispute Resolution in Special Education, is hosting a symposium: “Showcasing Exemplary Practices: The Fifth National Symposium on Dispute Resolution in Special Education” on October 26-28, 2011 in Eugene, Oregon. The event is intended for state dispute resolution coordinators, directors of special education, dispute resolution practitioners, parent advocates, attorneys, educators, service … Continue reading Dispute Resolution in Special Education →

Sean Nolan recently sent out information from his completed survey of how US law schools integrate dispute resolution into their required curricula. The survey was part of the work completed by the Legal Education, ADR, and Problem-Solving (LEAPS) Task Force of the ABA DR Section. I am pasting the information below: Survey overview: The purpose … Continue reading Who Requires Dispute Resolution? →

The New York Times carried a story today about a labor union that is often afraid to ask for more or confront management. In New York, members of the Federation of Catholic Teachers are reportedly working without a contract and as a group tend to not want to confront management, the Archdiocese. When teaching negotiation, … Continue reading A Labor Day Lesson →

A newly formed Swiss political party is trying to save us all (or at least the Swiss) from boring power point presentations. The new Anti-Power Point Party wants to prohibit power point, claiming it would both save money (by their estimate €350bn) and help us to once again enjoy “real discussion about ideas as opposed … Continue reading Against Power Point →

In the upcoming term, the US Supreme Court will hear a pair of appeals from criminal defendants who allege that they did not have competent assistance of counsel during plea bargaining. In one case, Lafler v. Cooper, the defendant states that he rejected a plea offer after his lawyer misunderstood the law and gave him … Continue reading Plea Bargains and Competent Assistance of Counsel →

I recently read an article that nicely brings together advice about teaching law school courses from neuroscience and psychology. The article is: Deepening The Discourse Using The Legal Mind’s Eye: Lessons from Neuroscience and Psychology that Optimize Law School Learning by Hillary Burgess, 29 Quinnipiac L. Rev. 1 (2011). The article summarizes the research on … Continue reading Visual aids and memory →

I have recently learned of two books that seem interesting: ANNOYING: The Science of What Bugs Us by Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman (thanks to Natalie Fleury!); and It’s Always Personal: Emotion in the New Workplace by Ann Kraemer. The New York Times gave a review of the Annoying book at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/health/26zuger.html The Washington Post … Continue reading Annoying Emotions →

My local NPR station recently ran a program on collaborative law that I missed the first time it aired. It is a good one hour conversation between three local (North Texas) collaborative law practitioners: a lawyer, an accountant, and a therapist. I thought it was particularly interesting to listen to the perspectives of the non-lawyer … Continue reading Collaborative Law Summer Re-run →

Last weekend a woman was arrested for disorderly conduct after allegedly talking for sixteen hours while in the “quiet car” on an Amtrak train from Oakland, California to Salem, Oregon.  I have to admit my first reaction to this news was shock that anyone could talk for sixteen hours.  But, assuming the facts are as they … Continue reading Cell Phone Court? →

The end of the semester is marked by a few milestones including student evaluations.  I thought some might enjoy the Onion’s perspective on this process, see  here .  Thanks to the International Law Prof Blog for finding and posting this article.