I am in Washington, DC at the annual ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference enjoying the cherry blossoms and the fabulous line-up of speakers and presentations. In particular, the plenary sessions yesterday and today were extraordinary, both in their timeliness of topic and thought-provoking quality. Yesterday, the NY Times’ columnist Thomas Friedman received the … Continue reading The Lost Art of Listening, with a nod to Senator Kaine →

I recently became aware that, through its budget process, New York State legislators are seeking to amend New York’s arbitration law (contained in its Civil Practice Law and Rules) to, among other things, require that all arbitrators be neutral (i.e. no party arbitrators); require certain disclosures by arbitrators relevant to possible bias; permit vacatur based … Continue reading New York State Proposes Amending its Arbitration Law →

Reposting earlier call for nominations: NOMINATIONS DUE TOMORROW MARCH 1 As outgoing (or gone) Chair of the AALS Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution, I am pleased to announce on behalf of the Section’s Executive Committee the creation and launch of the Section’s annual award for best scholarly article published in print or online in the … Continue reading Last Call for Nominations: AALS ADR Best Article →

For those of you interested in class arbitration law, I wanted to pass along news of this decision, via this headline in Lexology (with a H/T to George Friedman for tweeting it to my attention): “A First in the Second (Circuit): On Remand, District Court Breaks New Ground by Vacating Arbitrator’s Class Certification Award.” Here … Continue reading District Court Vacates Arbitrator’s Class Certification Award →

I am passing along an announcement from the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution regarding its inaugural Young Scholar Program, which will sponsor young professionals interested in ADR who want to attend the Section’s April 2018 annual spring conference, this year in Washington DC.  According to the Section’s Director, the Section will “invite him/her to serve … Continue reading ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Young Scholar Program →

As outgoing (or gone) Chair of the AALS Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution, I am pleased to announce on behalf of the Section’s Executive Committee the creation and launch of the Section’s annual award for best scholarly article published in print or online in 2017 in the field of ADR.  Details and a Call for … Continue reading AALS ADR Section Call for Nominations for Best ADR Article in 2017 →

After spending almost a full week in Israel learning about the unfathomable complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, some of us (me included) expressed growing pessimism and even despair about the prospects for peace here. So it was uplifting to start our last full day of the Academic Partners for Peace DR Law Faculty Seminar talking … Continue reading DR Faculty Seminar in Israel – Shorashim and “Anger as Idolatry” →

From FOI Deb Eisenberg: We spent our third night of Hanukkah at the kibbutz Kfar Haruv (which means Carob Village) in the southern Golan Heights. Founded in 1974 by native Israelis and U.S. immigrants, Kfar Haruv was the sixteenth Israeli settlement established in the Golan Heights and now has approximately 400 residents. Kfar Haruv has … Continue reading DR Faculty Seminar in Israel – Kibbutz Life to Yad Vashem (or from the best of humanity to the worst of humanity) →

Justice Aharon Barak joined the Supreme Court of Israel in 1978, and became its President in 1995, serving until 2006. He is widely considered one of the greatest Israeli jurists. (See his full bio here.) This morning the Academic Partners for Peace DR Law Faculty had the honor of spending more than an hour listening … Continue reading DR Law Faculty Seminar in Israel – Justice Aharon Barak →

From FOI Jacqueline Nolan-Haley (Fordham): I am happy to announce the details of the second annual ADR writing competition. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ADR LAW STUDENT WRITING COMPETITION 2018 The Dispute Resolution Section of the New York State Bar Association and the American College of Civil Trial Mediators are proud to announce the Second Annual NYSBA/ACCTM National Championship … Continue reading ADR Law Student Writing Competition with $10,000 Prize! →