Tag Archives: Dispute Resolution Practice

Reality-Testing Questions for Real Life and Simulations – and Ideas for Stone Soup Assignments

Litigation offers many potential benefits.  It can help people solve difficult problems, make relationships and institutions function properly, and promote justice.  It enables people to enlist legitimate, independent government officials to resolve disputes when the parties can’t resolve disputes themselves.  Indeed, litigation provides mechanisms for structuring dispute resolution processes that enable most parties to ultimately … Continue reading Reality-Testing Questions for Real Life and Simulations – and Ideas for Stone Soup Assignments →

What Do Litigants Really Want?

Donna Shestowsky (California-Davis) recently wrote the latest in a series of her studies asking actual litigants about their procedural preferences.  The article is Inside the Mind of the Client:  An Analysis of Litigants’ Decision Criteria for Choosing Procedures, 36 Conflict Resolution Quarterly 69 (2018).  Here’s the abstract: This article presents findings from the first longitudinal … Continue reading What Do Litigants Really Want? →

Keet and Heavin on Why Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment is So Darn Important for Lawyers and Mediators – And How You Can Make Stone Soup With It

Michaela Keet and Heather Heavin (Saskatchewan), have been studying “litigation interest and risk assessment” (LIRA), something you probably teach using different names.  You probably emphasize the importance of analyzing BATNAs and preparing for negotiation and mediation, which are basic elements of LIRA. Building on their own and others’ research, they developed a simple but comprehensive … Continue reading Keet and Heavin on Why Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment is So Darn Important for Lawyers and Mediators – And How You Can Make Stone Soup With It →

Call for Proposals for ABA Conference

The ABA Section of Dispute Resolution is calling for proposals for the 2019 Spring Conference.  The theme is “Shining the Light on Parties: Enhancing the Experience of ADR Users.” The 2019 Annual Spring Conference will be held on April 10-13, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Here is a brief sketch of … Continue reading Call for Proposals for ABA Conference →

ABA Programs on Evaluation in Mediation and Relational Practice

The ABA Section of Dispute Resolution announced two programs that look really good.  One is a webinar, Evaluation: A Potential Tool in Your Mediation Strategy, on July 25, and the other is a Relational Practice Virtual Summit on September 4-7. Video Webinar on Evaluation in Mediation The ADR Section is trying something new – a free … Continue reading ABA Programs on Evaluation in Mediation and Relational Practice →

Stone Soup:  It’s a Great Idea But . . .

We all know about situations when people say that they really like the idea of ADR, but it’s not appropriate in their particular case.  Sometimes there are very good reasons not to use an ADR process.  Other times, not so much. There may be similarities in some people’s reaction to the idea of using a … Continue reading Stone Soup:  It’s a Great Idea But . . . →

Stone Soup Assessments: Farkas Arbitration, Tetunic Clinic, and Fowler, Keet & Baerg, and Newman & Roger Negotiation Courses

  Here is a collection of more assessments of Stone Soup course assignments.  This again demonstrates how faculty have been creative in crafting a wide variety of learning experiences that fit their instructional goals and situations. Many colleagues wish they had students do these assignments earlier in the semester and discuss them in class.  Brian … Continue reading Stone Soup Assessments: Farkas Arbitration, Tetunic Clinic, and Fowler, Keet & Baerg, and Newman & Roger Negotiation Courses →

Stone Soup: Texas Bar Program for Lawyers and Mediators on Planned Early Negotiation

This post describes CLE presentations I gave for the Texas Bar.  It provides material for participants at the program and is another illustration of how people can use the Stone Soup Project idea of using continuing education programs to produce and share knowledge about actual practice. I previously tested this approach in two days of … Continue reading Stone Soup: Texas Bar Program for Lawyers and Mediators on Planned Early Negotiation →

Stone Soup, Reflective Practice, Action Research, and Social Justice

Some questions for law professors:  Why did you go to law school?  Why did you decide to go into academia?  What do you want to accomplish in your work?  What do you hope for your students? In this post, I give my answers to these questions, which I think will resonate for many readers of … Continue reading Stone Soup, Reflective Practice, Action Research, and Social Justice →

What Is the Stone Soup(s) Project Really About?

  As a girl scout at heart, I like to make new friends and keep the old ones.  So I really enjoyed the AALS ADR Section Works-in-Progress Conference originated by Andrea Schneider and hosted this year at Arizona State under the able leadership of Art Hinshaw with assistance by Gabriel Velez and Roselle Wissler.  It … Continue reading What Is the Stone Soup(s) Project Really About? →