By now, you know that students are using AI. Some faculty express concern, and they hope that AI tools will just go away – or that students won’t use them. Not gonna happen. One recent study found that 86% of university students occasionally, frequently, or very frequently use general artificial intelligence tools. About 70% of … Continue reading What Do AI and Sex Have in Common?
We’ve all used the terms “facilitative” and “evaluative” to describe mediation as if everyone knows what they mean. Earlier this year, I surveyed experts about how they understand these terms – and how they think others understand them. Spoiler alert: This study found that people are hopelessly confused about these terms, including experts in our … Continue reading Seriously, You’re Really Still Saying “Facilitative” and “Evaluative” Mediation in 2025?
Artificial intelligence is already transforming the ways lawyers, educators, students, scholars, and dispute resolution professionals work. The pace of change is accelerating. How should we respond collectively? How will you respond to help your students and/or clients deal with this new world? To help figure this out, you can read a concise new article, Responsible … Continue reading Responsible Realism About AI in Law and 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
This year, I wrote a lot of blog posts and short SSRN articles about the Real Practice Systems (RPS) Project, particularly about attorneys’ real practice systems and legal education. The Project is designed to improve understanding about how dispute resolution practitioners think and act and to help practitioners act more consciously and intentionally. I updated … Continue reading Updates to Collections of Real Practice Systems Project Publications
At this year’s AALS ADR Section WIP Conference, I presented data showing that more than 90% of law school mediation courses and more than 90% of the coverage in popular mediation texts focus on the mediator’s role. I asked people what they think the emphasis generally should be in generic mediation courses, and here are … Continue reading If You Will Teach Mediation (or Other DR Course) Next Year, Read This
Pioneering family mediator Michael Lang just released the second edition of his book, The Guide to Reflective Practice in Conflict Resolution. He provided an account of his development as a mediator as one of the Ten Real Mediation Systems. He is the co-director of the Reflective Practice Institute International. Michael’s book builds on Donald Schön’s … Continue reading New Edition of Michael Lang’s Book on Reflective Practice
10%. That percentage – or less – is the rough proportion of the mediation curriculum devoted to mediation representation in US law schools, including about: 6% of mediation clinic courses 9% of mediation simulation courses 3-9% of the coverage in some mediation textbooks 7% of the coverage in many mediation courses Is it too much … Continue reading Is 90% Too Much?
I recently published It’s Time to Make Important Upgrades to Our Mediation Curriculum, which notes significant changes in American mediation practice in the past five decades and suggests that law school faculty upgrade our mediation instruction accordingly. Modern Mediation Practice in American Legal Cases is a two-page summary of that article, which was published in … Continue reading Modern Mediation Practice in American Legal Cases
Many of us know Ava Abramowitz, a retired Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington. She recently gave a presentation at the Garibaldi Inn of Court, “Making Words Matter.” The communication behaviors discussed in her presentation can give mediators, lawyers, disputants and litigants more tools to communicate. and in the process, help them develop additional … Continue reading Ava Abramowitz on Making Words Matter
