Alkon on the Supreme Court and Plea Bargaining

Cynthia Alkon (Texas A&M) has published “The U.S. Supreme Court’s Failure To Fix Plea Bargaining: The Impact of Lafler and Frye” in the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, available on SSRN here. The abstract: Virtually every criminal conviction in the United States is the result of a guilty plea, not a jury trial. Yet it was … Continue reading Alkon on the Supreme Court and Plea Bargaining

Should I Keep Eating Cheerios? Food Companies Using Arbitration

The New York Times reported yesterday on a new trend among companies selling food products — the use of arbitration clauses. General Mills reportedly created an arbitration clause that would bind consumers who engaged in certain kinds of activity on their website, including downloading coupons or liking their products on Facebook. While such clauses may … Continue reading Should I Keep Eating Cheerios? Food Companies Using Arbitration

Followup from ABA Conference: Critical patience and pedagogy

Last week was the whirlwind ABA Section on Dispute Resolution annual conference in Miami. At the conference, I presented an exercise in “critical patience” designed to promote the kind of deep attention and focus that law school and dispute resolution practice require–and that, so often, excessive technology use (skimming, surfing) can degrade. Here was my … Continue reading Followup from ABA Conference: Critical patience and pedagogy

Just what we’ve all been waiting for: A negotiation cookbook!

At a gathering of negotiation teachers held at Marquette late last year, we conducted an exercise which demonstrated wonderfully many different outlooks on negotiation, in a short time and a creative way. We asked all participants to write out their own definition of negotiation effectiveness – in the form of a recipe, relating to ingredients … Continue reading Just what we’ve all been waiting for: A negotiation cookbook!