Peter Reilly’s call for updates on our scholarship prompted me to create the following lists of short articles and blog posts I wrote this year. You might want to read some or see if any would fit into your syllabi as required or recommended readings addressing your teaching goals. The following pieces focus directly on … Continue reading Short Pieces You Might Want to Read
To resolve a dispute, one or more people need to change their minds. Negotiation and mediation involve techniques to help people do just that. Obviously, this can be very difficult. People have reasons for their positions and they may not change them easily. This post focuses on two approaches for changing minds, which are highlighted … Continue reading What I’m Reading – Changing Minds
From Debra Berman: I know there have been many discussions over the years regarding how to effectively use simulations in negotiation and mediation classes. After reflecting on my semester, I’d like to take this opportunity to reopen the conversation and provide you with my perspective. This year, I decided to substantially change how I utilize … Continue reading Simulations Based on Actual Cases – Why Reinvent the Wheel?
From Debra Berman: Dear colleagues, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. As we get back into the swing of things, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you about an event this week. Please join the ABA Legal Education in Dispute Resolution (LEDR) Committee for its inaugural DR professor virtual meet-up this … Continue reading DR Professor Meet-Up Thursday, Dec. 2 at 1 EST
In a recent presentation to mediators in Michigan, I asked the audience to describe what was frustrating in their mediations. They often struggle when lawyers and parties are not prepared when they go to mediation, have unrealistic expectations, and act very emotionally. Their reactions prompted me to write this short article in the Michigan Dispute … Continue reading How Mediators Can Solve Tough Problems in Mediation
Early coal mines didn’t have good ventilation, and miners were at risk from dangerous gases in the mines. So miners would bring canaries into the mines because they were sensitive to the gases and provided a warning of danger. The canaries would sing until they died from the gases. When they stopped singing, miners knew … Continue reading Canaries in the Litigation Coal Mine
Law school teaches students that law is a seamless web of rules emanating from authorities like statutes and cases which they must memorize and finely parse in hypothetical cases. In real life, practitioners generally think of law in terms of Oliver Wendell Holmes’s famous definition: “prophecies of what the courts will do in fact.” Of … Continue reading The Role of Law in Legal Disputes
People often say that dispute resolution processes aren’t “one size fits all.” When practitioners are asked to opine about hypothetical problems, they often say “it depends” and they make “case by case” decisions. They are telling the truth. Lawyers make complex decisions as negotiators, litigation advocates, and mediators based on a lot of factors, so … Continue reading Teaching Students to Think Like Practitioners
The ABA Section of Dispute Resolution published three books this year that you, your colleagues, and your students might be interested in. Mediating Legal Disputes: Effective Techniques to Resolve Cases, Second Edition, by Dwight Golann. Psychology for Lawyers: Understanding the Human Factors in Negotiation, Litigation, and Decision Making, Second Edition, by Jennifer K. Robbennolt and … Continue reading Three New ABA Books Hot Off the Press!
I forgot to include two things in my list of readings and resources you might want to think about as you plan for the coming academic year. The Theory-of-Change Book, which can be downloaded for free, contains 63 bite-size think pieces, averaging less than 4 pages each, written by 59 contributors in the following sections: … Continue reading Two More Things
