Imagine you’re a mediator and someone tells you what’s troubling them. They’re deeply upset about a product they believe poses serious risks. They cite past harms, question whether it should ever have been introduced, and urge that it be removed from the market or tightly restricted. The product is already in widespread use, integrated into … Continue reading Thinking Like Mediators About the Future of AI
Professor Carli N. Conklin has been named Director of the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution (CSDR) at the University of Missouri School of Law. She succeeds Professor Ilhyung Lee, who served as the Center’s director from 2019 to 2025. Carli brings a rich blend of scholarly insight, historical perspective, and teaching excellence to … Continue reading Carli Conklin Succeeds Ilhyung Lee as Director of Missouri’s Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution
Many of the people we admire for their work on dispute resolution aren’t formally part of the dispute resolution community. They include lawyers, judges, law professors, and others whose work embodies the spirit of our field – even when they use different language, work in other disciplines, or serve in different roles. Some time ago, … Continue reading You Really Should Know About John Inazu
We all know that it’s bad to be biased, right? Wrong. That assumption is its own bad bias. Biases are inevitable – in humans and bots alike. Some biases are harmful. Others are helpful. Many are neutral. But bias itself is unavoidable. So bias isn’t a problem in itself. Pretending otherwise is. This post describes … Continue reading RPS Coach is Biased – And Proud of It
“The mediation failed.” This statement implies that reaching agreement is the only measure of success. It also implies that the mediation process failed, not that the parties made a legitimate decision not to settle during a mediation session. When you hear someone say that, does smoke come out of your ears? Do you get hot … Continue reading How You Can Speak Dispute Resolution Well
On October 30, 2024, Debra Berman posted a message on the DRLE listserv encouraging colleagues to drop the word “alternative” from “ADR.” Her post quickly prompted 24 responses. As usual, people were respectful, appreciative, collaborative, and funny even as they expressed differing views. This was one of our best discussions, and I wish we had … Continue reading Choosing to Use Good Language in the “ADR” Field
Last week, University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law named Michael T. Colatrella Jr. as its new dean effective July 1. Many of us know Michael, who hosted the AALS WIP conference last fall. He is the inaugural Tracy A. Eglet Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution. He joined McGeorge in 2009 as an assistant … Continue reading Michael Colatrella Named Dean of McGeorge School of Law
My friend and colleague, Michael Moffitt, mused about my musings about law review reprints. Not one to let a good musing go to waste, I hereby muse on Michael’s musing. Michael savors others’ reprints. I savor Michael’s prose. In my prior musing, I identified some problems with printed reprints of law review articles but I … Continue reading Harmonizing with Michael
As I was cleaning out my bookshelves to give some books to my school’s library, I encountered stacks of reprints of law review articles. In the olden days, sending reprints was a regular thing. We would order extra reprints of our articles and then send them postally (!) to colleagues, often with a short personal … Continue reading Ode to Reprints
The University of Missouri’s Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution will hold its 40th anniversary symposium on Friday, October 25. It’s entitled, “Dispute Resolution at Forty: Looking Back, Looking Forward,” and features an indisputably all-star cast. Here’s the lineup. The starred characters are Mizzou student and/or faculty alumni. Welcome: Paul J. Litton Remarks: Ilhyung … Continue reading Come to Missouri’s 40th Anniversary Symposium on October 25
