The Normal New Normal in the US, Circa September 2022

President Biden caused a little brouhaha when he said that the pandemic is over. I think that he was trying to convey that what I called the “crisis new normal” had given way to a “normal new normal.” Indeed, life is very different than March 2020, when we didn’t know much about the virus.  Remember … Continue reading The Normal New Normal in the US, Circa September 2022

Stacia Jones to Deliver Moritz’s 2022 Lawrence Lecture – hybrid event

On Monday October 31, beginning at 12:10 EST, Stacia Jones will deliver The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law’s Lawrence Lecture on Dispute Resolution titled A Better Way to Negotiate That Drives Towards Equity and Justice. Stacia is lululemon’s Global Vice President & Head of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action – she graduated from … Continue reading Stacia Jones to Deliver Moritz’s 2022 Lawrence Lecture – hybrid event

Would you like to read a WIP draft?

I will present a draft of my article, Real Mediation Models to Help Parties and Mediators Achieve Their Goals, at the Works-in-Progress conference next month and I am posting it now so that you can read it before then if you like. People can attend the conference in person or by video – and I … Continue reading Would you like to read a WIP draft?

Mediators Help Save the Economy

The news media have a well-known bad-news bias.  If something bad is happening or – better yet – threatening to happen, the headlines scream of impending disaster. Good news, not so much coverage. If something good happens, including averted potential disasters, ho-hum.  There is much less coverage and it’s much less prominent. Such was the … Continue reading Mediators Help Save the Economy

How Can We Reduce Hyper-Polarization?

Heidi and Guy Burgess have long focused on how society – and our field – can deal with intractable conflicts.  They publish a newsletter, Beyond Intractability, that includes lots of thoughtful articles about this. The latest issue features an article they co-authored with Sanda Kaufman, Applying Conflict Resolution Insights to the Hyper-Polarized, Society-Wide Conflicts Threatening … Continue reading How Can We Reduce Hyper-Polarization?

Problem Resolution Lawyering Across the 21st Century Law Curriculum

Kris Franklin and Peter Phillips of New York Law School just wrote an excellent article that people who care about teaching dispute resolution in law schools should read:  Pass the Salt: Problem Resolution Lawyering Across the 21st Century Law Curriculum. Here’s the abstract: Attorneys work with clients to resolve problems. Legal education can help prepare … Continue reading Problem Resolution Lawyering Across the 21st Century Law Curriculum

Inside a High-Profile Plea Bargaining: Part I

The New York Times published a fascinating account of the plea bargaining of Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization CFO.  This was unusual because details of plea bargaining processes usually are kept private.  This process included the very active participation of the trial judge, who made suggestions and offered to keep Mr. Weisselberg’s sentence relatively short … Continue reading Inside a High-Profile Plea Bargaining: Part I