Last week, I taught about successive conflicts in my ethics class and there could be no better timing than the Fish & Richardson case to explain the hot potato scenario. The “hot potato doctrine” means that firms are generally prohibited from dropping smaller clients (like hot potatoes) in order to pick up more lucrative clients. … Continue reading Hot Potato Conflicts
Even Civil Procedure professors are now having fun with the “What did Hall Street mean” game, and the Fifth Circuit’s decision earlier this month in Citigroup v Bacon, (5th Cir. March 5, 2009), is the latest fodder for discussion. Beth Thornburg, of SMU Law School, and William Slomanson, of Thomas Jefferson Law School, recently posted … Continue reading Hall Street and Manifest Disregard
Earlier this month, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, for crimes against humanity and war crimes connected with Darfur. The warrant raises again the timeless question of peace versus justice. (See articles by Marquette visiting professor Lisa Laplante on outlawing amnesty and me on balancing … Continue reading Using Indictment as a Negotiation Tactic
Today, the Supreme Court held in Discover Bank v. Vaden, http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-773.pdf, that a district court should “look through” a petition to compel arbitration to determine whether the case is predicated on a controversy that “arises under” federal law. Jurisdiction cannot be established, however, by a counterclaim if the whole complaint does not “qualify for federal … Continue reading Discover Bank v. Vaden Decided Today
On February 27, 2009, the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected an arbitration award reinstating a state trooper who was fired for belonging to a group affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. The court held that the arbitrator’s award should not be enforced because it violates the state’s public policy against race discrimination. (Nebraska State Patrol v. … Continue reading Nebraska’s Highest Court Reverses Arbitration Award on Public Policy Grounds
As we continue to deal with the likes of Bernie Madoff and other swindlers who have lost millions of dollars for their investors, perhaps Elie Wiesel has a good idea on how to punish all of them. Holocaust survivor, human rights activist and author Elie Wiesel lost his entire life savings with Madoff. His charity, the … Continue reading Restorative Justice for Bernie Madoff?
Fordham Law School is hosting a day-long symposium on April 3, 2009, marking the 25th anniversary of “Against Settlement.” The link to the program is: http://law.fordham.edu/ihtml/page3.ihtml?imac=1168&calID=9590 Michael Moffitt
Dear all, I am delighted to be hosting a great interdisciplinary conference next month on how conflict can be affected by the media–good, bad or otherwise. I’ve embedded the evite here so that you can click to see the program. Feel free to forward or share with anyone who might be interested. We would be … Continue reading International Media & Conflict Conference
Paula Young has undertaken an admirable (and time-sensitive) research project. She wrote the following in an email to the AALS list, and I’m sure she’d welcome input from folks across the country: I am trying to learn which states test any ADR topics on the bar exam, especially arbitration. I know that Alabama, Virginia, and … Continue reading ADR on the Bar Exam
In an earlier post I described the program scheduled at the ABA Dispute Resolution Section’s meeting in New York City. The program – the Law Professors’ Forum: Mediation Shop Talk – is set up to discuss how to incorporate the findings of some recent studies into our teaching. One commenter showed an interest in what will be discussed … Continue reading Call Mediation Profs – part II
