Today the Supreme Court handed down its opinion in DirecTV v. Imburgia today. No surprises here – the FAA acts as glue when there is an arbitration clause in a contract. Maybe most surprising in Justice Breyer’s opinion is the “and we mean it” exhortation to the lower courts. In an ironic twist, this finger-wagging … Continue reading SCOTUS hands down DirecTV v. Imburgia opinion today
Newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan invited Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to dinner the other night. “A Ryan aide said the two lawmakers talked shop for a short time and spent most of the evening getting to know each other.” This is consistent with my suggestion that counterpart lawyers have lunch … Continue reading Getting to Know You
Here’s an account of the negotiations leading up to the international climate change agreement. Apparently, there was an accidental change of the word “should” to “shall” in one passage, which almost sunk the deal. A lesson to law students and lawyers everywhere. The story of this extremely complex negotiation really is fascinating, especially following the … Continue reading One Word
Michael posted a five-part series – parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 – by Heather Kulp, entitled “Fallacies About ADR Careers?” I have some reactions to her series and we are going to have a conversation online. This is the first part in our conversation. Stay tuned for Heather’s response. And feel free to … Continue reading Conversation with Heather Kulp About ADR Careers – Part 1
From GFOI Jim Alfini: Dear Colleagues: I am writing to solicit your interest in having a get-together at 11:00 am on Friday, January 8, at Cardozo Law School. The purpose of this meeting is to give those of us who teach dispute resolution courses and are attending the AALS meetings (or reside within reasonable traveling … Continue reading The Pleasure of Your Company is Requested at the AALS Meeting
I recently posted an item citing the IAALS’s work touting the benefits of the new amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For a counterpoint, here’s a draft article by SMU Professor Elizabeth G. Thornburg, Cognitive Bias, the ‘Band of Experts,’ and the Anti-Litigation Narrative. Here’s the abstract: In December of 2015, yet another … Continue reading Another View of the New FRCP Rules
On December 1, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure will take effect which are intended to change the culture of litigation. According to a post on the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) blog, the new rules affect “judicial case management, disclosure, use of experts, and education for judges.” … Continue reading FRCP Amendments Intended to Change Culture of Litigation
FOI Jean Sternlight announced that 19 (count ’em) articles are available online from UNLV’s great-looking symposium, Psychology and Lawyering: Coalescing the Field. (Click on the title of the post to access the link.)
As I mentioned in a recent post, the University of St. Thomas Law School held a terrific symposium on November 13, entitled Dispute System Design: Justice, Accountability and Impact. They have posted a video of the symposium as well as powerpoints from most of the presentations. Kudos to Mariana Hernandez Crespo, Heidi Van De Berg, … Continue reading Video and Powerpoints from Fabulous St. Thomas DSD Symposium
This is the next installment in my too-many-part series, Everything You Know About Dispute Resolution is Wrong. Today’s episode was prompted by Michael’s post about an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education in which the author describes her strategy of improving her BATNA to escape a crappy job as a non-tenure-track instructor. Michael suggested … Continue reading BATNA, MLATNA – No Big Difference, Right?
