Now that I have had a day to catch my breath, I can share a few reflections about the wonderful ADR Works-in-Progress Conference that Cardozo Law School hosted this past Thursday evening through Saturday morning.  Prof. Lela Love, Director of Cardozo’s Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution, assisted by student editors of Cardozo’s Journal of Conflict … Continue reading Report from Cardozo’s Wonderful ADR Works-in-Progress Conference →

  Last week the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Burt v. Titlow.  Many hoped the Court would use the decision in Titlow to bring more definition to the Court’s 2012 decisions  in Lafler and Frye when they held that defendants have a right to effective assistance of counsel in plea bargaining.  Instead, in … Continue reading The Latest Supreme Court Case on Plea Bargaining, or Not →

I received this announcement about a conference on Dispute Resolution and Religion that I thought others might find interesting: The Aspen Center for Social Values presents Alternative Dispute Resolution: Is This the Future of Law? June 8-10, 2014. The submission deadline is Nov. 30, 2013. The Conference seeks to engage scholars of Jewish studies, and … Continue reading Opportunity to Discuss ADR and Religion in Aspen →

I just returned from a fabulous weekend in Hong Kong (and yes, I would suggest staying longer next time.)  Nadja Alexander, Jim Coben, and Chris Honeyman put together a really diverse and interesting group of people to discuss Modern Negotiation and Ancient Wisdom.  The articles coming out of the conference will form the next issue … Continue reading Tan Pan Symposium →

The 7th Annual AALS DR Section Works-in-Progress conference starts this Thursday, November 7, at Cardozo School of Law. Many of the indisputably bloggers will be there to participate in the conference and report on the hot trends, buzzworthy developments, etc. More soon!

  The UK Ministry of Justice is proposing to save £220 million (approximately $351 million) by paying lawyers so that they will receive more money if they plead their clients guilty early in their criminal case, rather than waiting longer or going to trial.  According to the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association, there are situations … Continue reading An Unfortunate Proposal to Encourage Plea Bargaining Early and Often →

From this morning’s Chronicle of Higher Ed (here). The state of Maryland and lawyers representing historically black colleges have agreed to mediation after a federal judge ruled this month that the state had failed to fully desegregate its public higher-education system. The ruling stemmed from a 2006 lawsuit filed by students and alumni of the … Continue reading “Maryland Agrees to Mediation to Resolve College-Desegregation Ruling” →

I’d be remiss if I didn’t pay my respects today to Lou Reed, he of the Velvet Underground and Walk on the Wild Side fame.  If you’re not quite sure why there’s so much press about his passing yesterday, check out this from Allmusic about Reed, and about the Velvet Underground, and give their ground … Continue reading Lou Reed – Thank You and RIP →

Article by that title in this morning’s National Law Journal (here).  Of course, with that title, it could have been book-length.  But the article, written by two partners at Sidley Austin in L.A., really focuses only on arbitration.  The authors captured employer sentiment beautifully with the phrase, “You Had Me at Class Action Waiver.”  It’s … Continue reading “The Pros and Cons of ADR Clauses” →

The Los Angeles Times published an article here  about a pilot program in the federal courts in Southern California which allows a small number of defendants facing federal charges to complete sentences without prison time and, in some cases, to have their cases dismissed. It is unclear from the article what the intake procedure is … Continue reading Federal Problem Solving Courts →