You would think that negotiation professors would be among the best at picking and choosing their times to negotiate, right? We prepare, analyze our BATNA, come up with good options, set the mood, work on the relationship, order in food, and get set to have a wonderful collaborative experience. We also know when to avoid … Continue reading Black Friday and Avoiding Negotiation
At the conclusion of a mediation I did some years ago, one of the parties did something weird. Really weird. They said “thank you” to the other side. Had these parties mid-read the standard mediation script? The other party was clearly taken aback, and I remember feeling almost awkward. “Thank you”?! They were “supposed” to … Continue reading Thanks-Giving in Mediation
Most of the conflicts about which I know anything, I learned about through reporters. And today, I wonder what I should think about that. At a conference I attended yesterday, on “Interest-Based Reporting,” faculty from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication and the University of Missouri’s Center for Conflict, Law, and the … Continue reading Interest-Based Reporting
Today, the Court issued an order requesting supplemental briefing from the Hall Street Parties. The order is as follows: ORDER IN PENDING CASE 06-989 HALL STREET ASSOC. V. MATTEL, INC. The parties are directed to file supplemental briefs addressing the following questions: (1) Does authority exist outside the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) under which a … Continue reading Supreme Court Orders Additional Briefing in Hall Street
Strikes that get played out in the news are interesting public displays of negotiation positions that we are often not privy to otherwise. In the strike of the Writers Guild of America, their position, as expressed in the New York Times by Damon Lindeloff (the co-creator and head writer for the television series Lost) is … Continue reading Missing Jon Stewart and What the Writer’s Guild Strike Has to do with Negotiation
Leonard Riskin and I have written an article that will appear in the summer issue of the George Mason Law Review. Because we are concerned that many mediation sessions are characterized by a narrow, law-and-litigation-oriented problem definition, the article proposes several mechanisms to encourage parties to choose the problem definition for their mediation. Do they … Continue reading Emotions and Problem Definition in Mediation
We will soon read about a Department of Justice initiative to decrease online public access to criminal plea agreements. I know this because the ABA Section of Litigation sent me an email yesterday, announcing the contents of the January 2008 issue of Litigation News, one part of which will be devoted to the topic of … Continue reading Access to Plea Agreements
I am appointments chair for the second year in a row (aah!) and, after returning from Washington DC last week and starting the process of making further decisions, have been focusing just a bit on the character of any new faculty that we would bring on. It reminded me of two great books that I … Continue reading Nice is Not a Four Letter Word
The parties in Hall Street argued their case on November 7, 2007. While the argument was difficult to follow, I thought I could discern some of the justices’ points of view. Chief Justice Roberts suggested that when parties agree to expand judicial review of arbitration awards, they take themselves outside the scope of the Federal … Continue reading Hall Street v. Mattel Oral Argument Yesterday by Sarah Cole
Fulbright and Jaworski’s recently-released Fourth Annual Litigation Trends Survey Findings include an intriguing snapshot regarding corporations’ use and views of their dispute resolution process options. The survey is based on responses from 305 participants—general counsel, associate general counsel, vice-presidents & general counsel, and deputy general counsel—who work for publicly and privately held companies in the … Continue reading Corporate Use and Perceptions of ADR and What It Could Suggest for Legal Education
