My colleague, Gary Spitko of Santa Clara University School of Law, is publishing an article entitled, “The Will as an Implied Unilateral Arbitration Contract” in Volume 67 of the Florida Law Review. The link to the abstract and manuscript on SSRN is here: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2575761. Gary’s work on dispute resolution and its intersection with trusts and … Continue reading The Will as an Implied Unilateral Arbitration Contract →

From Jonathan Cohen (Florida) via the list serv The University of Florida Levin College of Law seeks applicants for a Lecturer position to teach courses in which the skills of interviewing, counseling, negotiation, mediation, and mediation advocacy are taught.  This is a nine-month, non-tenured faculty position, which offers the opportunity for the award of long-term … Continue reading Florida seeks Lecturer in Negotiation, Mediation and Other Skills →

As we know, it is rare that any form of dispute resolution makes it onto network television in prime time. Friday night’s episode of Blue Bloods—the New York police drama starring Tom Selleck—featured a story line about restorative justice. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good example. In the story, a young woman whose family was killed … Continue reading Blue Bloods and Restorative Justice →

Last week Paul posted about the CFPB report on Mandatory Consumer Arbitration, and after wading through the entire report, FOI Jean Sternlight provides us with a post reporting the report’s key findings. ————————————————- For many years we have debated whether companies’ imposition of mandatory arbitration is helpful or harmful to consumers. Well-intentioned academics and neutrals … Continue reading Sternlight – CFPB Report Shows Mandatory Consumer Arbitration Harms Consumers →

Today USNews released their law school rankings (here) and their specialty rankings, which are password protected.  The Dispute Resolution rankings are below.  Congrats to all. 1. Pepperdine 2. Missouri 3. Harvard 4. Ohio State 5. Hamline 6. Cardozo (Yeshiva) 7. Oregon 8. Marquette 9. UNLV 10. UC Hastings 11. Arizona State and Northwestern (tie) 13. … Continue reading USNews Rankings →

The Consumer Financial Products Board has issued its report on the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in consumer finance contracts, as directed by Congress in the Dodd-Frank Act. In conducting its study, the CFPB looked at hundreds of financial agreements, reviewed thousand of disputes–including individual arbitrations, individual lawsuits, class actions, and public enforcement actions–and conducted a … Continue reading CFPB Report on Arbitration in Consumer Finance Contracts →

As an arbitrator and teacher of arbitration, I’ve noticed that legal issues are more frequently the focus in arbitration proceedings, both non-labor and labor. I have watched non-lawyer representatives struggle to make legal arguments (although, in fairness, sometimes that is true of lawyers as well). To ensure adequate representation of parties in arbitration involving legal … Continue reading Blurred Lines: Are Non-Attorneys Who Represent Parties in Arbitrations Involving Statutory Claims Practicing Law? →

The SEC approved FINRA’s proposal to ” refine and reorganize the definitions of ‘non-public’ arbitrator and ‘public’ arbitrator.”  Customers who file an arbitration claim against a broker dealer or associated person now has the right to an all-public arbitration panel, so the definitions of who fits the two classifications are high stakes.  This proposal is misguided, … Continue reading SEC Approves FINRA Proposal to Further Revise Definition of Public and Non-Public Arbitrator →

We are in the O’Hare airport  ready to go–33 MU law students, my fabulous program coordinator Natalie Fleury, and wonderful MU colleague Chad Oldfather.  With Israeli elections in 2 weeks and Netanyahu here in the U.S. this week, we know we are timely! Flying via Vienna for a day and then landing on Saturday morning … Continue reading Live Israel Blog–2015! →