As followers of the blog know, one of the high points of our trip to Israel was dinner with Justice Aharon Barak and his wife Judge Elika Barak.  We were also joined by their daughter, Tamar, who is a mediator.  Interestingly from the dispute resolution perspective, Justice Barak was the judge who brought mediation to Israel … Continue reading Israel Reflections: Dinner with the Baraks →

I mentioned the new ADR writing competition sponsored by the ADR Committee of the ABA’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section in a post back in February. The competition is open to all law students who are members of the ABA and attending an ABA accredited law school. Here’s the other pertinent info: Topic: Recent … Continue reading Writing Competition Reminder →

In the next few days, I will post several blogs compiled of postings from my students who were asked this week to reflect on what they learned from the trip to Israel (earlier posts on our trip can be found on the blog starting here).  I’ll start tonight with  third-year student Katie Bricco’s overall take on … Continue reading Israel Reflections & Lessons: The Cycle of Violence & Fear →

This past weekend National Public Radio’s This American Life ran a disturbing report on a Drug Court in Georgia that seems more akin to Soviet justice than to therapeutic justice.  To listen to the report, Very Tough Love, click Here.  The program reports serious and systemic problems with one drug court in Georgia including   disproportionate … Continue reading Drug Court Gone Wrong →

This is a deep and serious philosophical question that we ask juries and others who award monetary damages to answer all the time.  This weekend I finished Kenneth Feinberg’s book What is Life Worth? describing his work with the 9/11 Compensation Fund.  It’s an interesting read that details the working s of the team of … Continue reading What is Life Worth? →

Lots of things  happened while I was in Israel, including the annual release of the US News law school rankings.  Of course, we’re interested in the ADR rankings, which are based on peer assessment as  compared to the USNews overall law school rankings which are based on a formula that’s always controversial.  Without any further … Continue reading US News ADR Rankings →

I am teaching Criminal Law this semester and have struggled with how to move beyond the standard casebook vision that every criminal case goes to a jury trial and then has some fascinating appellate issue to review.  Under this standard approach, it is tough to structure classroom discussions around the realities of criminal practice, such … Continue reading Self Defense and Restorative Justice →

Maybe this isn’t news to the rest of you, but I just learned that the Supreme Court is now making oral arguments (both audio and transcripts) available really soon after the arguments take place.  It used to be that we had to wait years to get them.  Now, you can listen on read right away … Continue reading Oral Arguments Now Available →

I just learned about the letterblogatory blog, and it’s great. From Ted Folkman of the law firm of Murphy & King (also incidentally a former judicial clerk to Ann Aldrich), it contains high-quality analysis of some really interesting international arbitration cases, among other things. The most recent case-of-the-day reads like a caricature of an arbitration-meets-civil-procedure … Continue reading lettersblogatory & the Case of the Day →

Don’t forget to register for the upcoming ABA DR Section conference in Denver – it’s less than a month away, April 13-16.  The headline speakers are Bob Mnookin, author of the highly acclaimed book Bargaining with the Devil: When to Negotiate, When to Fight, and Temple Grandin, the renowned animal scientist from Colorado State University.  Clair Danes won … Continue reading Reminder – Sign Up for the ABA DR Section Conference in Denver →