As others are reflecting on notable events in the past year, I think about the American Arbitration Association’s 2013 revisions to its arbitration rules, and what those revisions mean to arbitration. First, effective October 1, the AAA’s revised Commercial Arbitration Rules make several important changes to the arbitration process.  All of the changes are summarized … Continue reading Notable AAA Arbitration Rule Revisions in 2013 →

Congratulations to Friend of Indisputably Prof. Hiro Aragaki (Loyola Law) on winning one of only two Honorable Mentions in the 2014 AALS Annual Scholarly Paper Competition for junior faculty for his paper “Contract” or “Procedure”? Reinterpreting the Federal Arbitration Act.  He presented a draft of the paper to the recent ADR Works-in-Progress Conference, and his presentation … Continue reading Congratulations to FOI Hiro Aragaki →

Now that I have had a day to catch my breath, I can share a few reflections about the wonderful ADR Works-in-Progress Conference that Cardozo Law School hosted this past Thursday evening through Saturday morning.  Prof. Lela Love, Director of Cardozo’s Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution, assisted by student editors of Cardozo’s Journal of Conflict … Continue reading Report from Cardozo’s Wonderful ADR Works-in-Progress Conference →

NYS Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and NYC Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Proclaim Thursday, October 17 as Mediation Settlement Day Everyone can benefit from learning about mediation and other Alternative Dispute Resolution resources to resolve conflicts and disputes peacefully. Throughout the month of October, Mediation Settlement Day sponsors offer special programs to increase understanding about mediation … Continue reading Happy Mediation Settlement Day! →

Cornell University’s Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution, in conjunction with the Modria Mediation Room, is hosting the 2013 Cyberweek eMediation Competition. WHEN: November 4-8, 2013 COMPETITORS: 1. Competitors must be a current student at a college or university. 2. Mediator – Individuals may register to participate in the competition as a mediator. 3. Parties – … Continue reading CyberWeek 2013 eMediation Competition →

As I blogged here, at the end of 2012, George Friedman retired as Executive Vice President and Director of Dispute Resolution of FINRA Dispute Resolution after many years in a top role there.  (He remains an Adjunct Professor at Fordham where he has taught Arbitration Law for many years.) However, since his so-called retirement, he … Continue reading George Friedman’s Prolific Retirement →

I am passing along an annoucement from FOI Noam Ebner: It is time once again to prepare for the annual conference on Online Dispute Resolution, Cyberweek 2013. This online conference provides a week of activities and dialogue about the world of Online Dispute Resolution and how it relates to our work as conflict specialists. Cyberweek … Continue reading Cyberweek 2013 and Call for Proposals →

For those of you who are interested, the text of the bill proposed on Friday is here.

Last Friday, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn) introduced the “Investor Choice Act” into the House of Representatives, a bill that proposes to ban broker-dealers, investment advisers, funding portals and municipal securities dealers from including mandatory arbitration clauses in their customer and client agreements. While Dodd-Frank explicitly authorized the Securities and Exchange Commission to ban such arbitration … Continue reading Bill Banning Predispute Arbitration Clauses in Broker-Dealers’ Customer Agreements Introduced into Congress →