Rick Bales (Northern Kentucky) wrote a very thoughtful blog post on the American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant over at the Workplace Prof Blog.  I agree with much of what he said, including the observation that it is unfortunate that the Court will be making new arbitration law that likely will have a huge impact on consumer arbitration … Continue reading Rick Bales on AMEX v. Italian Colors →

Professor Kristen Blankley, of the University of Nebraska College of Law, gave an informative talk about a little discussed device — limited scope representation. Here is Kristen’s abstract: Given the complexities of the legal system, pro se litigants understandably have difficulties navigating the legal labyrinth, and empirical evidence confirms that unrepresented parties rarely prevail in … Continue reading Adding By Subtracting? How Limited Scope Agreements for Dispute Resolution Representation Can Increase Access to Attorney Services, by Kristen M. Blankley →

Pace Law School was honored today to welcome U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to our campus to spend the day visiting and chatting with faculty, students, alumni and invited guests.  See http://newswire.blogs.law.pace.edu/2012/10/25/supreme-court-justice-sonia-sotomayor-to-visit-pace-law-school/. I for one grabbed the opportunity to ask her privately about her views on the Supreme Court’s arbitration law jurisprudence.  While she … Continue reading Justice Sotomayor on Arbitration →

We just completed our annual Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution Annual Symposium, which this year also served as the AALS Sixth Annual Works-in-Progress Conference. I thought the conference was a great success! As Art mentioned, we had many wonderful presentations (some of which – our “new voices,” highlighting young scholars working in the dispute … Continue reading Report from AALS Works-in-Progress/Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution Symposium →

George Friedman has been a top executive at FINRA Dispute Resolution since he joined its predecessor NASD fourteen years ago in 1998.  Currently Executive Vice President and Director of Dispute Resolution, Mr. Friedman recently announced he will retire at the end of this year. George has been a stellar leader of FINRA’s arbitration program, among other roles, … Continue reading George Friedman, longtime Director of Dispute Resolution at FINRA, to retire at end of year →

Yesterday the Supreme Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, No. 12-133, 2012 WL 3096737 (U.S. Nov. 9, 2012), to decide the following question presented:  “Whether the Federal Arbitration Act permits courts, invoking the ‘federal substantive law of arbitrability,’ to invalidate arbitration agreements on the ground … Continue reading Supreme Court grants certiorari in important arbitration case →

  The Supreme Court decided to take the American Express case [an arbitration case].  Because the court took the case even though Justice Sotomayor has recused herself, it looks like the 2nd Circuit will be reversed.   I was in a motorcycle commercial when I was living in Taiwan.  And yes, they dyed my hair … Continue reading Overheard at the WIP Conference →

I’m sitting here the WIP Conference and it’s been a fabulous day so far.  I say that because there  have been some fantastic presentations, and at this point (mid-afternoon) two that have stood out were from Jen Reynolds (propaganda, persuasion, manipulation, and how we teach negotiation) and Ken Kressel (tacit knowledge of mediators).  At this point I’m not … Continue reading Greetings from the Works-in-Progress Conference →

Tomorrow I’m off to the 6th Annual Works-in-Progress Conference, which is being most capably hosted by the Moritz School of Law at Ohio State.  As you’d expect, many of the Indisputably crew will be there to participate in and report on the event.  I hope we can do some live-blogging of the presentations and post about … Continue reading See you at the Works-in-Progress Conference →

My friend and colleague Sheila Heen, co-author of the well-known book, Difficult Conversations, just wrote a wonderful column for the New York Times, entitled Sleeping with the (Political) Enemy, all about how she and her husband John Richardson (also a negotiation and conflict resolution expert) manage to communicate about their vast political differences.  I read it … Continue reading Sleeping with (or Being Related to) the Enemy →