Tis the season of the US News tournament, when our mailboxes fill with literature touting the achievements of law schools far and wide. Most of us think that this “game” is seriously flawed and wish our schools didn’t have play the game, but we generally feel compelled to do so because of the significant consequences. … Continue reading Missouri Scholarship Booklet
Recently, I was asked to write a post for a state bar association blog with highlights from my article, My Last Lecture: More Unsolicited Advice for Future and Current Lawyers. Then I thought, heck, I should post it here too. Understand Your Clients’ Interests. Lawyers often assume that they know what their clients want–to get … Continue reading Tips for Lawyers Who Want to Get Good Results for Clients and Make Money
This post stimulated a conversation with Peter Benner about planned early dispute resolution (PEDR), beginning with the exchange of comments below. There are six additional posts in this conversation. At the end of each post, there is a link to the next post in the conversation. _______________________________________________________________ Early mediation is a waste of time. This … Continue reading Planning is Critically Important for Early Dispute Resolution
You are cordially invited to this program at the ABA conference in Seattle, which will take place on Friday, April 17, from 3-4:15, in the Orcas Room. My partners in crime for this caper are Alyson Carrel, Jim Coben, and Noam Ebner. Here’s the idea for our program – How many times have you heard … Continue reading Everything You Know about Dispute Resolution is Wrong – Can You Handle the Truth?
Jen wrote a comment about my post that built on Prof. Vincent Cardi’s new article, “Litigation as Violence,” describing some effects of “violence” even from non-physical acts. She wrote: We in ADR should not undervalue, when analyzing the dispute resolution landscape, the regulatory function of litigation in the United States. A business executive may feel … Continue reading Minimizing Unnecessary Violence in Litigation and Other Dispute Resolution Processes
I just read a provocative article entitled, “Litigation as Violence,” by Vincent Cardi (West Virginia), 49 Wake Forest L. Rev. 677 (2014). You may want to assign this nine-page article (and/or this post) in your classes, which may stimulate valuable discussion about the consequences of lawyers’ work for their clients – and themselves. Professor Cardi … Continue reading Litigation as Violence
SSRN subscribers will soon see a passel of my old articles scrolling across their screens and may wonder, “What the heck?” The heck is that, thanks to a new scanner, I was able to make nice pdf files of some articles I wrote before I started posting pieces on SSRN. With the benefit of hindsight, … Continue reading Oldies But Goodies
Does ADR include trials? I know, I know. This sounds like another one of my dumb questions. Although I have a pretty broad conception of DR, my initial reaction was that trial is one of the few procedures I would exclude from DR. As described below, on reflection, I probably would include trials. More importantly, … Continue reading What is (A)DR About?
My colleague, Professor S.I. Strong, recently conducted a large-scale empirical study on the use and perception of international commercial mediation and conciliation that appears to be the first of its kind. The information was gathered to assist the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) as it considers a proposal from the Government of … Continue reading Strong UNCITRAL Study Cited by United Nations
In 1998, commenting on the hot controversy about the “Rand Report’s” finding that certain mediation programs did not save time or money (measured in terms of lawyers’ work hours), Professor Craig McEwen argued that it was the wrong question to ask whether “mediation works.” Critics of the Report had argued that its methodology led to … Continue reading Some Good Questions
