Earlier this week, I opened an envelope containing a menu from Conflict Kitchen (ConflictKitchen.org) and I was utterly captivated. I don’t know much of anything about the place. I don’t know the politics or the culinary skills of the owners. I don’t know its typical clientele, its finances, or its plans for the future. I do … Continue reading Conflict Kitchen
I am pleased to circulate a Call for Proposals for the AALS-ADR annual Works-in-Progress Conference: The AALS Alternative Dispute Resolution Section is seeking a host for the 11th Annual Works-in-Progress Conference to take place in the fall of 2017. The WIP Conference has become one of the “must attends” in the ADR academic field. Previous … Continue reading Call for Proposals: AALS ADR Works-in-Progress Conference
I know, I know. This sounds like another one of my dumb questions. Actually, it is surprisingly difficult. Consider the following activities. Kids trading baseball cards, parents promising children ice cream if they finish eating their veggies, large groups of friends ordering dinner at a Chinese restaurant, families planning a vacation, tourists haggling at a … Continue reading What is Negotiation, Anyway?
I am very proud of our co-blogger, Andrea Schneider, just selected to receive the 2017 ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work. The announcement is here: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/dispute_resolution/spr2017/osw_award2017.authcheckdam.pdf Andrea is truly an outstanding scholar as well as a colleague and friend to many. Congratulations, Andrea!
Hot off the presses: The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to consider whether the National Labor Relations Board is correct in its interpretation that arbitration agreements are illegal under federal labor law if they contain class action waivers, setting the stage for an issue that has divided various circuit courts. This is a topic of … Continue reading NLRB Class Action Waiver Case to be Heard by the Supreme Court
On January 10, President Obama gave his farewell address, which dealt, in part, with building common ground between people divided across so many boundaries. Although some people obviously disagree with President Obama politically, hopefully most people would agree with the following ideas. As I wrote previously, understanding and empathizing with others does not mean that … Continue reading Building Common Ground Between Bubbles – Part 5
Interesting new article in the Harvard Business Review on the benefits of using reframing techniques to think about problems in a different way, here. You may have heard the “slow elevator” problem before, but if not, here it is: A building manager gets complaints from her tenants about a slow elevator. If she automatically assumes … Continue reading The Slow Elevator
Adam Zimmerman (Loyola) and David Jaros (Baltimore) have a new piece forthcoming in the Wash. U. Law Review entitled Judging Aggregate Settlement. It explores the rise of mass settlements across civil, administrative, and criminal law and their impact on the role of the federal judiciary. Here’s the abstract: While courts historically have taken a hands-off … Continue reading Zimmerman & Jaros: Judging Aggregate Settlement
Rory Van Loo (Boston University) has published “The Corporation as Courthouse” in the Yale Journal on Regulation, available here. I read an early version of this article; it’s fascinating. The abstract: Despite the considerable attention paid to mandatory arbitration, few consumer disputes ever reach arbitration. By contrast, institutions such as Apple’s customer service department handle … Continue reading Van Loo on the Corporation as Courthouse
According to the caption on this photo: “Conflict Resolution: trying to save this rag of a shirt from the trash.” Hat tip – Awkward Family Photos
