In the upcoming term, the US Supreme Court will hear a pair of appeals from criminal defendants who allege that they did not have competent assistance of counsel during plea bargaining. In one case, Lafler v. Cooper, the defendant states that he rejected a plea offer after his lawyer misunderstood the law and gave him … Continue reading Plea Bargains and Competent Assistance of Counsel →

We received the sad news yesterday that former New York Governor Hugh Carey, generous benefactor of the Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution at St. John’s School of Law, passed away.  Governor Carey had had a long-standing ambition to create a center for dispute resolution at St. John’s when I founded the Carey Center … Continue reading Hugh L. Carey, 1919-2011 →

I recently read an article that nicely brings together advice about teaching law school courses from neuroscience and psychology. The article is: Deepening The Discourse Using The Legal Mind’s Eye: Lessons from Neuroscience and Psychology that Optimize Law School Learning by Hillary Burgess, 29 Quinnipiac L. Rev. 1 (2011). The article summarizes the research on … Continue reading Visual aids and memory →

Thanks to the Securities Arbitration Commentator’s Arbitration Alert service, I recently learned that the New York State Legislature is considering legislation to amend New York’s arbitration law to add a specific bias ground for vacatur.  The bill already passed through the State Assembly as A7002A-2011, and has now been introduced in the State Senate as … Continue reading New York State Legislature Considers Adding Vacatur Ground →

I leave on Friday for Ghana for a conflict resolution training that Fordham and St. John’s are conducting in conjunction with the Catholic University College of Ghana. Sponsored by the Giving to Ghana Foundation, this training will serve as the inaugural mediation training for a new Conflict Resolution Center. It will train neutrals to serve as court-connected … Continue reading Conflict Resolution in Ghana →

London and Paris are generally regarded as the primary forums for international arbitration in the trade networks built around the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, with major international cities such as New York, The Hague, and Rome also figuring prominently. But this article in the AmLaw Daily highlights the growing importance of Stockholm as a … Continue reading Sweden’s Rise as International Arbitration Forum →

As every reader of this blog should know, Yale Professor Owen Fiss wrote a seminal article entitled Against Settlement, which gave several policy reasons as to why he was (shockingly) against settlement.  When he sees this judicial order, he’s bound to add several more. hat tip: Above the Law

In a blog post today on Forbes, blogger Victoria Pynchon of She Negotiates interviews Carrie Menkel-Meadow on the debt crisis negotiations.  As Menkel-Meadow explains, the current political crisis demonstrates that where self-interest (or party-interest) dominates (if we can’t rule, we’ll ruin) negotiation seeking integrative solutions or bargaining for trades and compromises may be difficult to … Continue reading Advice to Obama from an Expert Negotiator →

Our Sesame Street friends perform “Sure Shot” one the Beastie Boys’ best songs.  Enjoy. http://vimeo.com/26570444