The Federal Judicial Center has released a whitepaper entitled In Their Words: Attorney Views About Costs and Procedures in Federal Civil Litigation, that reports on interviews with 35 attorneys exploring the costs of federal civil litigation. The report contains many predictable conclusions (costs increase with higher stakes; IP litigation is really expensive) as well as … Continue reading FJC Report on Litigation Costs and Impact of Arbitration →

I am in Kosovo for a few weeks at the invitation of the American Bar Association to conduct an assessment of legal education in the country.  Kosovo is a country whose history has been determined by conflict.  There are therefore no shortage of dispute resolution issues and topics here and I will try to write … Continue reading Greetings from Kosovo →

This morning our Marquette Foreclosure Mediation Program was singled out as a primary reason that the Mayor of Milwaukee won a public policy award for “Innovative Response to Economic Downturn” from the Public Policy Forum and last week the MFMP won “Lawyer of the Year” from the Milwaukee Bar Association.  Not a bad week!  I … Continue reading Theory to Practice (and the lovely results) →

I reported last week on BP’s suggestion that it would appoint an independent mediator to help resolve claims relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Now, BPs hand has been forced by the Obama Administration. BP announced today that it would establish a $20 billion fund to compensate victims, and that the fund would be overseen … Continue reading Feinberg to Oversee BP Fund →

Recently posted to SSRN: an article describing a study of lawyers’ prediction about litigation.  It turns out that lawyers are overconfident in their assessments about the likelihood of success.  This result should surprise every person who has never met a lawyer. The study also found that lawyers don’t improve with experience on this measure, and … Continue reading “Lawyers Are Overconfident” and other shocking discoveries →

The deadline for submitting essays to the Boeskey Writing Competition, sponosored by the ABA’s Dispute Resolution Section, is tomorrow June 15th.  If you received a paper in one of your classes that you think is worthy, I hope you have urged that student to submit the piece.  Also, if you have any interest in being a judge … Continue reading Last Call for the Boeskey Writing Competition →

Marcia Coyle reports on looming judicial and legislative developments in arbitration, with quotes from Andrew Tulumello, Charles Craver, and Paul Bland. The next six months promises to be an eventful period in arbitration land, with a decision in Rent-a-Center on the horizon, followed by AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion next term and possible Congressional action on … Continue reading NYLJ on Arbitration →

This week, the Obama Administration sent a very forceful letter to BP demanding that BP document its process for paying claims resulting from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. In May, BP had announced that it was planning a mediation program to handle disputed claims, and that it would soon appoint an Independent Mediator. Apparently, no one … Continue reading Mediation in Deepwater? →

It’s never too early for a good thing is it?  If you’re on the planning committee for the 2011 ABA DR Section Conference the answer is no.  Last week I was in Denver discussing the spring conference, so I’m thinking about much of the things associated with the conference.  For example, the RFP will be … Continue reading Thinking about the 2011 ABA DR Section Conference →

Thanks to Andrea, Michael, Sarah, Art, Jill & Cynthia for giving me an opportunity to participate on the blog. I’ve enjoyed the blog as a reader for several years. One of the blog topics that has interested me recently is the subject of gender in negotiations. Andrea convinced me that I need to dedicate more … Continue reading Overoptimism Bias & Gender →