With great sadness, our field learned of the passing of Isabelle Gunning. Those of us at Indisputably felt that the most meaningful way to honor her life and legacy was to invite people who knew her well to share reflections with our community. We are especially grateful to Sharon Press (Mitchell-Hamline) and Ellen Deason (Ohio … Continue reading In Memory – Isabelle R. Gunning (1956-2026)
Colleagues recently had a lively discussion on the DRLE listserv about negotiation and mediation theory. This post summarizes my perspective and includes my posts in that discussion. I hadn’t planned to write the series of posts, but comments in this thread prompted me to summarize my perspective. Many of the comments raise broad questions about … Continue reading Negotiation and Mediation Theory After 30+ Years: A Practice-Based Framework
Here’s a debate about whether generative AI threatens the survival of key civic institutions – followed by a conversation with RPS Coach about these issues that may surprise you. Woodrow Hartzog and Jessica M. Silbey wrote How AI Destroys Institutions. Here’s the abstract. Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone … Continue reading Will AI Destroy Institutions?
From FOI Professor Andrew Mamo: Hiro is pointing us toward a broader set of conversations that directly implicate our field, including but not limited to Gadamer-Habermas, and I agree that these debates should be far better known within the dispute resolution field. The distinction between strategic and communicative action, for example, poses hard questions for … Continue reading Habermas, AI, and more: post by Andrew Mamo
A year after the Trump administration came after law firms, the dust has still not settled. (Just last week, the DOJ both withdrew and then refiled its defense against the law firms that sued the administration for unlawful targeting.) But it is worth taking a step back and considering what we have already learned about … Continue reading Negotiation Theories for Law Firms….
I was inspired to write this after reading Carrie’s and Andrew’s fascinating posts on the subject. I knew of Carrie’s engagement with Habermas, but I didn’t realize that others in the field were also steeped in his work. It makes me think we should have a symposium on Habermas (and Bush?) — any takers? Before … Continue reading On Habermas and DR
In the space of two weeks, the field of dispute resolution lost Robert Baruch Bush, the prophet of the transformative model of mediation, and the world lost Jürgen Habermas, the philosopher whose theory of communication and rationality provides a normative justification for much of dispute resolution—even if few American legal scholars in this field engage … Continue reading On Habermas & Bush: from Andrew Mamo
I learned of Jurgen Habermas’s death at 96 while I was teaching my Negotiation intensive course and my students were engaged in a complex multi-party consensus – building exercise. As we debriefed, I asked if they had heard of Habermas and all said No, despite the fact that many were Political Science majors in college. … Continue reading On Habermas: from Carrie Menkel-Meadow
This morning, I read the here-linked Guardian story reporting that Jurgen Habermas has died. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/15/jurgen-habermas-obituary I know no credible scholars in our field who would accuse Habermas of being easy to read. And I am not the right person to write a thorough, or maybe even thoughtful, examination of the ADR-specific impacts of Habermas’s notions … Continue reading Jurgen Habermas (1929-2026)
On March 9, a program on developing AI literacy in law students was the inaugural session in the AALS–West Academic webinar series. As AI rapidly reshapes legal practice, law schools are experimenting with a wide range of approaches to help students build the skills and judgment they’ll need in an AI-infused profession. Here’s the video … Continue reading Developing AI Literacy in Law Students
