The 17th gathering of the World Forum of Mediation Centers was held under the auspices of the Union International des Avocats in Zagreb, Croatia, on October 5-6, 2012. Mediators and Centers came from the U.S., Spain, Italy, India, Canada, Croatia, France, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Lebanon, Russia, the U.K., Slovenia, Germany,...
Karol Denniston of Schiff Hardin has brought our attention to recently enacted legislation in California requiring mediation, in most instances, before a municipality may seek protection under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy laws. The new law (Assembly Bill 506) requires a municipality to either participate in a 60-day "neutral evaluation process"...
Some colleagues have been batting back and forth the idea of initiating a Corporate ADR Pledge in our jurisdiction. They observe that business-to-business disputes continue to be litigated at an alarming rate, and that those who manage corporate disputes may not be aware of the efficiencies that mediation offers. A...
I recently finished another semester teaching International Commercial Dispute Resolution at New York Law School, and once more was reminded of how much one learns when one teaches. The final papers in the course were very good, and I have chosen a few to share, with the permission of the...
J. Michael Hand didn't like the Walnut Valley Sailing Club's storage shed. A member of the club, though not disabled himself, Mr. Hand thought the structure didn't comply with the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. So he sued. The Walnut Valley Sailing Club didn't like being sued, and...
I remember attending the first meeting of the Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association, in Boston, in 1999. I was on a panel discussing Y2K, and absolutely everybody I had ever met in ADR was in attendance. Y2K has since moved on, but the ABA Dispute Resolution Section...
This post continues a discussion of some recent court opinions concerning the enforceability of settlement agreements reached during mediation, but subsequently disowned by one of the parties. In Williamson v. Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals (N.J. App. Div. A-6291-10T1, March 12, 2012), plaintiff sought damages from her employer for alleged violations of the New...