The Daily Labor Report states: “Court Must Decide Unconscionability, Not Arbitrator, Ninth Circuit Rules 2-1 A former account manager for a rent-to-own company in Nevada is entitled to have a court decide whether the arbitration agreement he signed as a condition of employment is unconscionable under state contract law, even though the agreement specifies that … Continue reading Ninth Circuit Has Interesting Ruling on Unconscionability
About an hour ago,a federal judge struck down the proposed settlement between Bank of America and federal regulators over bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives. The online version of the New York Times runs the story, “Judge Rejects Settlement Over Merrill Bonuses.” I have pasted the text of the article below, and the twelve page … Continue reading Judicial Scrutiny of Settlements
The good folks at Penn State are holding a symposium in March 2010 focused on the Supreme Court’s recent Ashcroft v. Iqbal decision. I am confident the actual title of their symposium will be more professional-sounding than the tagline for this blog entry, but I think I’ve pretty well captured the basic tone of many … Continue reading What’s Icky About Iqbal?
Teaching really does have its rewards. Last week I emphasized to the students in my Mediation & Arbitration class that one question they should ask themselves throughout the semester is whether the dispute resolution process used in any particular dispute is appropriate for that dispute. A few days later a student in that class brought this article to … Continue reading Mediating family religious disputes?
From Sharon Press at the Association for Conflict Resolution: Hopefully many of you already know about Conflict Resolution Day which is an annual event sponsored by the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) to: promote awareness of mediation arbitration, conciliation and other creative, peaceful means of resolving conflict; promote the use of conflict resolution in schools, families, … Continue reading Conflict Resolution Day
I am reproducing here an e-mail announcement from ADR Prof Nancy Welsh that came across the ADR listserv earlier today: Dear Colleagues: On Friday, March 26, 2010, Penn State will hold a symposium addressing the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Ashcroft v. Iqbal. There will be three panels: * One panel will address Iqbal‘s implications … Continue reading Symposium at Penn State
I’ve been a subscriber to the National Arbitration Forum’s ADR Law & Policy Update for a couple of years now, and I have to say that I miss my weekly (or so) emails. I’m guessing that the Update is a casualty of the NAF’s difficult summer (see here and here among other places), and that’s … Continue reading ADR Law & Policy Update – Where Have You Gone?
Imagine a race for District Attorney where the lead candidates talk about alternative ways to handle criminal cases, including problem solving courts, and are not simply competing to see who will be “tougher” on crime. This seems to be happening in New York City. The three contenders for District Attorney in next week’s Democratic primary … Continue reading “Meting out justice with sympathy”: The race for NY District Attorney
James Surowiecki had an interesting piece in last week’s New Yorker describing the endowment effect and the status quo bias and applying them to the current health care debate. In looking at the endowment effect (when you own something you tend to overvalue it) Surowiecki states: “What [the endowment effect] suggests about health care is … Continue reading Can Bias Help President Obama in the Health Care Debate?
Earlier this week I criticized an article in the last month’s ABA Journal saying that there’s work to be had as an ADR neutral due to the economic downturn. You can see the post here. Since then a colleague brought an article that backs up my assertions about the difficulties of entering the profession and … Continue reading Where the Work Is – Cont’d
