A really, really interesting blog post by Brian Ganson on the HNMCP blog site.  I have known Brian since my earliest days in mediation, and he has reliably challenged many of my assumptions about just what it is we do and how we ought to do it. An excerpt (but really you should read the … Continue reading Brian Ganson on Mediation and Advocacy →

This morning’s edition of “Inside Higher Education” (one of the two or three sites I read every morning) includes an article by a current PhD student entitled, “Basic Negotiation Advice for Grad Students.”  Available here. Pieces are consistent with the commonly understood “best practices” of our field, such as they are.  Prepare well.  Don’t just … Continue reading Negotiation Advice for Graduate Students’ First Jobs →

From Bob Bordone and Rachel Viscomi (Harvard): November 25, 2014 This fall semester this year a notable one for both of us, for different reasons and motivated by different circumstances. Bob is preparing to take his first sabbatical after sixteen years of continuous teaching in both semesters; by contrast, Rachel embarked upon teaching her first … Continue reading Giving Thanks to (Facilitation) Students →

Earlier this week, I was driving to an appointment, and I heard someone talking about Mediation. Only after it was over did I realize that I was listening not to an NPR story, nor to a law-focused podcast, nor to the voices in my heads.  I had been listening to a radio ad. On an FM … Continue reading And then on the radio I heard … →

The Federal Circuit recently handed down its decision in the CEATS v. Continental case.  If I were teaching Mediation this year, I’d spend some real time on it. Quick summary (oversimplifying for purposes of clarity here): Mediator appointed to patent case.  Case didn’t wind up settling, and it proceeded to trial.  After jury verdict, losing … Continue reading A Requirement Without Consequence? Federal Circuit Mediator Conflict Disclosure Case →

Last week, the Washington Supreme Court reversed a conviction in State v Lamar on the grounds that jury deliberations must be “full and complete.”  The StoelRives blog noticeofappeal.org summarizes the case this way: In State v. Lamar, the trial court reconstituted the jury with an alternate midway through deliberations after one of the original jurors … Continue reading Deliberations, Interrupted →

From this morning’s National Law Journal: Federal lawmakers have renewed legislation that would require judges to consider the public’s interest before agreeing to seal court records about products liability lawsuits with companies.  Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced the Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2014 in the Senate this month. Rep. … Continue reading Sunshine in Litigation Act reintroduced →

David White (Seton Hall) was recently named Clinical Professor of the Year at Seton Hall (announcement here) and also accepted a civilian appointment to NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s “Reengineering 2014” team.  The group will critically examine many facets of the NYPD’s day-to-day operations and offer recommendations for process re-design. Bravo David! MM

For those law school ADR Evangelists looking for opportunities to woo colleagues from other doctrinal disciplines, the Anadarko / Kerr-McGee settlement yesterday should have you scrambling to talk with your faculty colleagues in Environmental Law and in Bankruptcy. My short (and admittedly potentially still not as well-informed as it should be) version is this: Kerr-McGee, … Continue reading $5.15B Environmental Settlement in Anadarko / Kerr-McGee →

Article posted this morning and available here.  First three paragraphs below. As an aside, the environmental attorney cited in the article is an Oregon Law alum.  The more important questions this article raises relate to the availability of attorney fees in a wide range of contexts in which fee-shifting is an important settlement dynamic. MM … Continue reading National Law Journal on “Sue and Settle” Cases →