I learned yesterday of the passing of Tom Schaub. In a blog focused primarily on law professors and dispute resolution, it may seem expansive for me to call attention to Tom (who was neither a lawyer, nor particularly interested in the sometimes-narrow constraints of “disputes” as they are commonly conceived.) Tom worked in the field, … Continue reading In Memoriam: Tom Schaub
It’s really, really hard to assess the wisdom of a settlement from the outside. Almost every settlement represents a tradeoff of legitimate interests in a condition of uncertainty. It’s perhaps extra hard to assess settlements in the context of litigation on behalf of the public. Was a settlement for $X a major victory, a stinging … Continue reading Kamala Harris and Settlements?
The ABA Section of Dispute Resolution has announced its 2024 recipients of the Frank Sander Innovation in ADR Award. I had the honor again of serving on the selection committee, and I was again humbled by the extraordinary range of innovative work being done in (and adjacent) to our field. One of this year’s recipients … Continue reading Frank Sander Innovation in ADR Award Recipients 2024
Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman, issued an order in a case pitting the state of Illinois against Monsanto and other chemical manufacturers for discharging PCBs. Illinois sought to compel disclosure of certain documents the defendants produced in conjunction with ADR proceedings that arose during nine other lawsuits spanning back to 1984. The … Continue reading If you teach ADR and CivPro, your exam writing dreams have been answered! (and you need better dreams)
I am delighted – – for our field, for our colleagues at Stanford, and for our colleague Grande – – to share the news that Grande Lum was formally announced yesterday as the new Director of Stanford’s Negotiation and Mediation Program. I suspect strongly that Grande is familiar to everyone reading this blog, but just … Continue reading Grande Lum – New Director of Stanford Law School’s Gould Negotiation and Mediation Program
As those of you who were in Las Vegas for the ABA Conference know, the 2023 Frank E. A. Sander Award for Innovation in Dispute Resolution went to the House Select Committee on Modernization of Congress. Named for long-time Harvard Law School professor Frank Sander, the Frank E.A. Sander Innovation in ADR Award was established to recognize … Continue reading Sander Award Winners – Bipartisanship and Reform in Congress
From Bloomberg this afternoon, article here. “As ChatGPT dazzles the general public with fanciful uses of artificial intelligence, such as writing Hollywood scripts or opining on fantasy baseball and art theory, Walmart Inc. is leaning on AI for a more pragmatic purpose: bargaining with suppliers….” “Artificial intelligence isn’t a threat to Walmart’s human negotiators, at least not yet. Instead the … Continue reading “Walmart Is Using AI to Negotiate the Best Price With Some Vendors”
For those among us who teach Professional Responsibility / Ethics courses as well as ADR, just a quick nod (or reminder nod) to the Dolan & Kennedy DC Bar Discipline case available here. The facts are not terribly complicated, although they are pretty horrifying. And the report and recommendation of the Board on Professional Responsibility … Continue reading An Ethics Case with Something for Almost Everyone (who teaches in this field)
From Professor Samuel Levine (Touro): Submissions and nominations of articles are being accepted for the thirteenth annual Fred C. Zacharias Memorial Prize for Scholarship in Professional Responsibility. To honor Fred’s memory, the committee will select from among articles in the field of Professional Responsibility with a publication date of 2022. The prize will be awarded at the … Continue reading Zacharias Prize – Call for nominations
Later this week, I’ll be part of a webinar on malpractice in the mediation & settlement arenas. This is part of the willworkforfood.news project, (introduced to me by Jeff Kichaven) in which webinar participants are charged no fee, but are invited to make contributions to a local food bank. (My contributions go to: foodforlanecounty.org.) October … Continue reading Webinar Oct 14 (“Settle and Sue: Managing Malpractice Risks for Mediators and Lawyers”)
