I just wrote another short piece you might want to read, The Deplorable Vanishing of Fox’s Trial. Here’s the abstract. About 20 years ago, there was a flurry of worries about “the vanishing trial.” Professor Marc Galanter described trials as having the potential for “deep accountability” where facts are exposed and responsibility is assessed. The … Continue reading The Deplorable Vanishing of Fox’s Trial
I just saw that two very impressive people in our field, Kris Franklin and Peter Phillips, wrote an excellent article, Pass the Salt: Problem-Resolution Lawyering Across the Twenty-First Century Law Curriculum, 23 Pepp. Disp. Resol. L.J. 1 (2023), building on the work that many of us have done. Here’s the abstract: Attorneys work with clients … Continue reading Problem-Resolution Lawyering Across the Twenty-First Century Law Curriculum
I recently posted a short article you might want to read, The Importance of Really Listening – For Ourselves, Others, and Democracy. Here’s the abstract. This article discusses how listening carefully can help others and ourselves and is important for healthy democratic processes. Relying on Kathryn Schulz’s book, Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of … Continue reading The Importance of Really Listening – For Ourselves, Others, and Democracy
Dominion Voting Systems’s filings for its motion for summary judgment included incredible smoking gun evidence that Fox News and its parent, Fox Corporation, knowingly published false statements with wild allegations about Dominion’s supposed role in promoting voter fraud in the 2020 election. The court’s ruling on the motion last week was much more damning than Dominion’s … Continue reading Fox’s Sizzling Bazookas
I just posted this short article using memoirs by and/or about five women to illustrate common patterns of conflict. The books describe women throughout the life cycle in different eras and places. Reading people’s stories can help us to “look through others’ eyes” to learn about worlds we do not know and to help us understand … Continue reading Tales of Five Women
I have been reading the classic dystopian novel, 1984, which has eerie echoes in the present day. It is modeled on Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany and “examines the role of truth and facts within societies and the ways in which they can be manipulated,” according to the Wikipedia summary. It takes place in Oceania, … Continue reading 1984 in 2023
It may be a weird time to suggest getting rid of bar exams considering that bar exams will soon include questions about client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship and management. Inclusion of these subjects on the bar exam could lead to welcome changes in legal education to better prepare law … Continue reading Should We Get Rid of the Bar Exam?
Black’s Law Dictionary definition of “smoking gun” could be Dominion Voting System’s brief supporting its motion for summary judgment against Fox “News.” Dominion’s argument is summed up in a Washington Post headline, “Fox News feared losing viewers by airing truth about election, documents show. ‘Everything at stake here,’ billionaire founder Rupert Murdoch wrote to a … Continue reading Fox’s Smoking Gun
New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a touching essay about his reactions to a lifelong friend’s struggle with depression and ultimate suicide. Mr. Brooks gave Pete advice about how to deal with his depression – and found that his efforts were counterproductive. It’s only later that I read that when you give a depressed … Continue reading The Gift of Really Listening
Question: Where does conflict come from? Answer: Normal, unconflicted life. Building on Felstiner, Abel, and Sarat’s classic article describing the genesis of disputes, Naming, Blaming, Claiming, this overgrown blog post uses memoirs to analyze how people develop “perceived injurious experiences” (PIEs), some of which become grievances (when they blame others), and some of which become … Continue reading Slices of Conflict in Life
