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
Hall St. Assocs., L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc., 196 F. App’x 476 (9th Cir. 2006), cert. granted, 127 S. Ct. 2875 (May 29, 2007) Argument: November 7, 2007 By Sarah Cole Listen to the Podcast Issue: Whether the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) prohibits federal courts from enforcing “a post-dispute agreement to review an arbitration award for … Continue reading Argument this Week in Hall Street Associates v. Mattel
As the Dispute Resolution Works in Progress Conference wrapped up Saturday, October 20, one of the attendees commented with great feeling on how truly special the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas had been. She and another colleague were seated at the end of a table, taking advantage of later flights to work together on … Continue reading Works in Progress Conference Wrap Up
When California legislators decided to require arbitration providers to disclose certain information about their arbitrations, they were probably focused on helping individual people who faced the prospect of participating in an arbitration proceeding. But the resulting data is also allowing us get an overall look at the status and effects of private arbitration, at least … Continue reading New California Data on Employment Arbitration
“Evident partiality” is one of the very few grounds upon which a court may vacate an arbitral award under Section 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act. The typical target of Section 10(a)(2) is an arbitrator who knows of a conflict of interest, fails to disclose it, and therefore fails to secure a waiver from the … Continue reading Arbitrators, Evident Partiality, and Contrived Ignorance
A recent case from the Ohio Supreme Court illustrates a division in the way different jurisdictions treat workers’ compensation claims where the employer and employee signed an arbitration agreement. In Peters v. Columbus Steel Castings Co., 115 Ohio St.3d 134 (2007) http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/default.asp, the employee agreed to arbitrate all claims he might have against his employer. … Continue reading Wrongful Death and Arbitration
