Tag Archives: Negotiation

How The Real Practice Systems Project Can Help Improve Mediation Quality

Improving mediation quality is tricky.  This post describes how the Real Practice Systems Project can help. In Principles for Policymaking about Collaborative Law and Other ADR Processes, I argued that policymakers generally should consider non-regulatory policy options before adopting new rules. Non-regulatory approaches include training for disputants and professionals, dispute referral mechanisms, technical assistance for ADR … Continue reading How The Real Practice Systems Project Can Help Improve Mediation Quality →

Would You Like to Get the Benefit of the Real Practice Systems Project and Share Your Experiences?

I am doing a research study entitled “Assessment of Real Practice Systems Experience” to assess how well Real Practice Systems assignments and exercises have worked in courses, trainings, and continuing education programs as well as for individual practitioners.  I’m writing to invite you to participate in this study. In this document, I describe how faculty … Continue reading Would You Like to Get the Benefit of the Real Practice Systems Project and Share Your Experiences? →

Resources for Using Real Practice Systems Materials in Teaching

This post describes how faculty can use ideas and materials from the Real Practice Systems Project to help students get realistic understandings of practice.  I initially focused on mediation systems, which are the combination of factors affecting what mediators do before, during, and after mediation sessions.  These systems include their routine procedures and strategies for … Continue reading Resources for Using Real Practice Systems Materials in Teaching →

A Long, Hard Road to “Yes”

Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $392 billion of federal investments in energy and climate policies, reflects a complex political evolution over recent decades, as described in this Washington Post article. Multiple Political Changes The bill was adopted on a purely party-line vote, with all Democrats voting in favor and all Republicans opposed. … Continue reading A Long, Hard Road to “Yes” →

Short Pieces You Might Want to Read

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 →

Canaries in the Litigation Coal Mine

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 →

The Role of Law in Legal Disputes

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 →

Teaching Students to Think Like Practitioners

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 →

Reconciling Allegedly Alternative Mediation Models by Using DIY Models

Like it or not, facilitative and evaluative mediation are part of the social reality of our field.  Despite the fact that these models are misleading and provide counterproductive concepts to guide mediators’ behaviors and set parties’ expectations, they are inescapable.  They are standard elements in texts, courses, trainings, and general discourse in our field.  They … Continue reading Reconciling Allegedly Alternative Mediation Models by Using DIY Models →