John Richardson, that worthy and thoughtful New York mediator, has brought to our attention a decision by Hon. Mr. Justice Ramsey of the Royal Courts of Justice in England that seems to render unenforceable the commonplace contractual provisions immunizing mediators from testifying as to the conduct of the mediation....
(Scene: White Horse Tavern, Hudson Street and 11th Avenue in the Village in New York City. Roger Fisher is having a beer with Alexander Hamilton, who is nursing a brandy.) Roger Fisher: Hamilton, I’ve been thinking…. Alexander Hamilton: That does not surprise me. You are after all a Professor. ...
Last year I had occasion to show a mediation video to a group of senior claims executives of European insurance companies who had assembled in Zurich. They loved it, and I was reminded just how powerful this video is to introduce the process of cross-border, cross-cultural interest-based facilitated negotiation to business...
I first came upon the term "Collaborative Law" in 2006 when I met David Hoffman of Boston Law Collaborative. David is a remarkable guy and could sell ice to an Eskimo if he thought the ice would be a benefit. As concerns collaborative law, David is tireless in his advocacy,...
In her excellent blog (linked on the home page of this blog), Diane Levin does us a great service by cutting to the quick of the debate on certification. Her post is an essential read....
News has spread fast about the complaint filed on Monday July 14 by the Attorney General of Minnesota against National Arbitration Forum. But as usual no one has a more complete first cut than Russ Bleemer of CPR -- read his coverage here. Bleemer links these troublesome allegations of deceptive practices to the...
Over the past 18 months I have been getting more and more involved with the "Conflict Transformation Committee" of the New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. That's like Quakers. Like the oatmeal. And it's going to get worse before it gets better....