The New York Times yesterday had a front page article on how doctors have discovered that saying “I’m sorry” for medical mistakes makes a lot of sense. There is part of me that says “It’s about time!” Many of us in the field have known about this phenomenon for some time based on the research … Continue reading I’m Sorry Actually Works
I just read the recently-posted, to-be-published-somewhere empirical study of the use of ADR in the federal government in the late 1990s. Entitled, Dispute Resolution and the Vanishing Trial: Comparing Federal Government Litigation and ADR Outcomes, the study’s authors include Lisa Bingham, Tina Nabatchi, Jeff Senger, and Michael Scott Jackman. Their abstract reads: This study compares … Continue reading ADR: The Federal Government’s Experience
Jean Sternlight at UNLV recently sent out an announcement that they have just posted webcasts of some of their recent “Peace in the Desert” lectures. http://www.law.unlv.edu/media_Events.html Among the speakers are: John Paul Lederach, Professor of International Peacebuilding, The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peacebuilding, University of Notre Dame: “The Moral Imagination: The Art and … Continue reading “Peace in the Desert” Lecture Series Webcasts Now Available
We will soon read about a Department of Justice initiative to decrease online public access to criminal plea agreements. I know this because the ABA Section of Litigation sent me an email yesterday, announcing the contents of the January 2008 issue of Litigation News, one part of which will be devoted to the topic of … Continue reading Access to Plea Agreements
Fulbright and Jaworski’s recently-released Fourth Annual Litigation Trends Survey Findings include an intriguing snapshot regarding corporations’ use and views of their dispute resolution process options. The survey is based on responses from 305 participants—general counsel, associate general counsel, vice-presidents & general counsel, and deputy general counsel—who work for publicly and privately held companies in the … Continue reading Corporate Use and Perceptions of ADR and What It Could Suggest for Legal Education
Last summer, in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), the Supreme Court may have signaled the tightening of pleading requirements. I’ve been wondering whether this also could signal the beginning of a trend that will affect the value—and perhaps even the viability—of ADR. It’s pretty clear … Continue reading The Possible Effect of Tightened Pleading Requirements on ADR
Under the “American Rule,” each party bears the burden of whatever expenses it incurs during the course of litigation, regardless of the outcome of the case. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54 presents one exception to this broad assertion. Under its terms (and equivalent state provisions), “costs other than attorneys’ fees shall be allowed as … Continue reading Mediation Fees as Recoverable Costs?
