Tag Archives: lawyering

A Message for Law Students to Prepare Themselves for Legal Practice

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Reflecting on my They Should Call it Negotiation School and Law School Failures posts, I wrote the following message, which you may want to share with your students.  Although they may be too busy to follow up on this now, you can plant a seed for them to pursue this during the winter break. ___________________________________________________________________ … Continue reading A Message for Law Students to Prepare Themselves for Legal Practice →

You Really Should Know About Kris Franklin

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Kris Franklin is a kindred spirit to folks in our community.  I hadn’t heard of her until I was wowed by her conversation with Peter Philips, which you can see in this 42-minute video. She’s a professor at New York Law School and here’s an excerpt from her webpage: An academic innovator, Kris Franklin brings … Continue reading You Really Should Know About Kris Franklin →

Study Finds That Law Schools Fail to Prepare Students to Work with Clients and Negotiate

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I previously posted an overview of the excellent report by Ohio State Professor Deborah Jones Merritt and Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System Research Director Logan Cornett, Building a Better Bar: The Twelve Building Blocks of Minimum Competence.  This report is based on insights from 50 focus groups with 201 participants conducted … Continue reading Study Finds That Law Schools Fail to Prepare Students to Work with Clients and Negotiate →

Important New Report on Essential Lawyering Skills

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Ohio State Professor Deborah Jones Merritt and Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System Research Director Logan Cornett just published an important report, Building a Better Bar: The Twelve Building Blocks of Minimum Competence, based on insights from 50 focus groups. They found that minimum competence consists of 12 interlocking “building blocks,” including … Continue reading Important New Report on Essential Lawyering Skills →

Gadzooks!  Even More LIRA Videos!  And Coming Attractions!

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I continue to produce videos related to the LIRA book, which you might be interested in, possibly for use in courses.  As I produce more videos, I add them to the full collection in this post, which you might want to bookmark. Here are the latest videos: Mediating with LIRA.  Mediate.com University.  $49.  August 2020.  … Continue reading Gadzooks!  Even More LIRA Videos!  And Coming Attractions! →

Jeff Trueman’s Study on Nightmares of “Positional” Tactics in Mediation

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Jeff Trueman, an experienced Maryland mediator and Pepperdine LLM candidate, wrote an excellent article about the challenges of lawyers, mediators, and insurance claims professionals in mediation. He interviewed subjects about their problems in mediation, and his study provided evidence of professionals behaving badly, very consistent with my post about BATNAs and the emotional pains of … Continue reading Jeff Trueman’s Study on Nightmares of “Positional” Tactics in Mediation →

BATNA May Be Less Important Than You Think – and Teach

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Everyone loves BATNA.  It has more than 16 million hits on Google. I have loved BATNA too.  Of course, people should consider alternatives to a negotiated agreement when negotiating or mediating. Unfortunately, people have loved BATNA so much that it has become a cliché that is widely misunderstood, even by some dispute resolution experts. When … Continue reading BATNA May Be Less Important Than You Think – and Teach →

LIRA Book Tour

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My career has focused on helping disputants by analyzing and promoting helpful lawyering and other dispute resolution techniques.  The ABA book, Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment: Help Your Clients Make Good Litigation Decisions, is the culmination of my scholarly career, combining Michaela’s and Heather’s excellent research on litigation risk assessment and my work on planned … Continue reading LIRA Book Tour →

Industrial-Strength Denial

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Jim Coben’s wife, Barbara Freese, recently published a fascinating book, Industrial-Strength Denial: Eight Stories of Corporations Defending the Indefensible, from the Slave Trade to Climate Change. I haven’t read it, but I assume it’s a fascinating book based on a wonderful video interview of Barbara by Joe Rogan.  Here’s a description of the book: Corporations … Continue reading Industrial-Strength Denial →

Consider Cooking Up Stone Soup in the Fall – Especially in Clinical and Externship Courses

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During the summer, faculty plan their courses for the fall. This is a good time to consider including Stone Soup assignments in your courses, especially clinical and externship courses. Faculty who used Stone Soup assignments found that they and their students almost invariably were very enthusiastic, feeling that this was a valuable contribution to students’ … Continue reading Consider Cooking Up Stone Soup in the Fall – Especially in Clinical and Externship Courses →

BATNAs and the Emotional Pains from “Positional Negotiation”

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If you have problems with BATNA theory, you aren’t the only one.  Some people have privately shared their concerns with me, and I suspect that there are a lot of others who are “in the closet” and don’t express their concerns publicly because BATNAs are so widely taken for granted in our community. George Siedel’s … Continue reading BATNAs and the Emotional Pains from “Positional Negotiation” →

BATNA’s Got to Go — and Here’s a Better Idea

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In a recent DRLE listserv colloquy, I threatened to save for another day an extended rant about why we are so doggone attracted to using confusing jargon.  That day has arrived. What’s Wrong with BATNA and All the Other ATNAs? My mania was stimulated by an exchange of listserv posts about the use of BATNA … Continue reading BATNA’s Got to Go — and Here’s a Better Idea →