Prof. Thomas J. Stipanowich of Pepperdine University School of Law has come out with a smashingly responsible analysis of the most recent Supreme Court arbitration cases. In his article, forthcoming in the American Review of International Arbitration, Stipanowich suggests that the three recent cases -- Stolt-Nielsen, Rent-A-Center and AT&T Mobility...
In New Jersey, the Superior Court Appellate Division recently approved for publication a decision in which a party to a mediation successfully sought to enforce a settlement agreement reached orally but not commited to writing during the mediation. The objecting party had claimed that (a) the New Jersey Rule pursuant...
At its recent meeting in Toronto, the ABA House of Delegates approved the Resolution on Public Civility, first proposed by the Section on Dispute Resolution, calling for civility in public discourse and urging state bar groups to take the lead in advocating respectful and attentive civil dialogue. Comes now Sara...
Here's a great title for a panel at the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto: "How Arbitrators Think and What You and They Can Do About It: A Journey Into the Minds of Arbitrators." Hey, I'm an arbitrator. And like Derek Jeter I always want to improve my game every time I...
If nothing is ever as simple as it looks, then the seemingly simple rules of mediation confidentiality are particularly complex. A group of colleagues was discussing the following hypothetical and could reach no clear conclusion: A mediation session concludes with defendant's counsel agreeing to revert to his (governmental) client to determine if...
There has been an uncharacteristic spate of impasses lately in my practice. Sitting back and examining why, the conclusion might be that one or more of the parties didn't come to the mediation to move ahead to the next stage in their business. They came to it to re-affirm the past, to...
The film concerning the use of mediation to resolve generations-old disputes between communities and corporations in Luzon, Philippines, has been completed and released. It is available for free viewing at...