The Minnesota AG’s complaint is here, and the NAF’s response from its website is here. Under Minnesota’s state rules of civil procedure, which I’m pretty sure parallel the FRCP on these matters, we’ll probably have a chance to see NAF’s answer relatively soon. Michael Moffitt

No, that’s not a typo.  And no, I am not among the persistent number who treat “arbitration” and “mediation” as coterminous.  I mean “Mediation.”  And I mean “Separability.” I was reading a recent case — Santana v. Olguin, 208 P.3d 328 (Kan.App., May 29, 2009), and it made me wonder how courts treat mediation provisions … Continue reading Mediation and the Separability Doctrine →

No formal announcement from Vanderbilt yet, but Brian Leiter posted the news earlier today, and Chris confirmed it to me in an email this evening. Vanderbilt is a lucky, lucky school.  I look forward to watching the law school under Chris’s leadership. Michael Moffitt

In the Spring 2009 issue of Conflict Resolution Quarterly appears an article by Charkoudian, de Ritis, Buck and Wilson entitled, Mediation by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet, or Would It?  The Struggle to Define Approaches to Mediation.  (Vol. 23 Issue 3, p.293.) The authors conducted two studies reasonably contemporaneously, and report them together. … Continue reading More in the quest to define elusive mediator approaches/styles →

This is enormously happy news for our field, in my opinion.  Bravo, Bob! Read the release here or at http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/clinical/news/bordone-appointment.html Michael Moffitt

Jean Sternlight just sent around the following announcement about Len Riskin’s recent visit to UNLV: The Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution at UNLV Boyd School of Law was recently privileged to host Professor Leonard Riskin (U. Florida) as our annual Saltman Lecturer.  Len’s topic was:  “Awareness in Dispute Resolution and Law.”  He explored how mindfulness … Continue reading Len Riskin – webcast of Saltman Lecture →

The New York Times ran an article about the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s agreement about the agreement that led to the return of  disputed artifacts to Italy in exchange for a system of rotating pieces on loan.  Yesterday came word through Reuters that the Getty will be receiving antiquities on loan from the National Archeological … Continue reading ADR and Art Disputes →

The Chronicle today ran an article about restorative justice programs on campuses.  I paste much of the text of it below.  I wonder whether many state Bars have refined their fitness questions and standards to reflect changes in the ways that campuses deal with offenses.  Perhaps a good research paper for a law student?… Michael … Continue reading Restorative Justice in the Chronicle of Higher Education →

Even Civil Procedure professors are now having fun with the “What did Hall Street mean” game, and the Fifth Circuit’s decision earlier this month in Citigroup v Bacon, (5th Cir. March 5, 2009), is the latest fodder for discussion. Beth Thornburg, of SMU Law School, and William Slomanson, of Thomas Jefferson Law School, recently posted … Continue reading Hall Street and Manifest Disregard →

Fordham Law School is hosting a day-long symposium on April 3, 2009, marking the 25th anniversary of “Against Settlement.” The link to the program is: http://law.fordham.edu/ihtml/page3.ihtml?imac=1168&calID=9590 Michael Moffitt