You likely remember the MGM Mandalay Bay mass shooting from a couple of years ago.  With approximately 4500 plaintiffs, the case was mediated by two former state court trial judges (one from Las Vegas and the other from Los Angeles) resulting in a structured settlement like many mass tort claims are. It turns out that the Mandalay Bay’s head of security the night of the shooting was . . .  (wait for it) . . .  the father of one of the mediators.  (!!!)  Jennifer Togliatti, the former Nevada trial judge now mediator, brought this conflict to the attention of…

In a recent DRLE listserv colloquy, I threatened to save for another day an extended rant about why we are so doggone attracted to using confusing jargon.  That day has arrived. What’s Wrong with BATNA and All the Other ATNAs? My mania was stimulated by an exchange of listserv posts about the use of BATNA and the alphabet soup of other ATNAs. After considering these issues for a while, and especially after working with Michaela Keet and Heather Heavin on the Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment (LIRA) book, I believe that our field should stop using these terms and…

From TFOI Kristen Blankley: COVID-19 has created additional need for legal services in many areas, including housing, consumer law, employment law, probate, family law, domestic violence advocacy, criminal law, among others. We all have substantive and process expertise in different areas, which means that we should have a great ability to fulfill our aspirational (or, in some states, mandatory) pro bono requirements under Model Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1. Nearly 15 years ago, Sarah Cole and I described one of the benefits of online mediation as “Mediation Without Boundaries.” Sarah Rudolph Cole & Kristen M. Blankley, Online Mediation: Where We…

GFOI and tech guru Colin Rule has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of Mediate.com.  Jim Melamed, the company’s co-founder and CEO for 25 years, is now chair of the board and general counsel. Colin is well-known for his visionary thinking and pioneering work in ODR.  He became the first director of ODR for eBay and PayPal.  He co-founded Modria.com, and most recently was vice president for ODR at Tyler Technologies.  Perhaps most important, he is a great guy. Click here for the full announcement. Best wishes to Colin and mediate.com.…

Recently, mediate.com initiated publication of a series of pieces entitled Seven Keys to Unlock Mediation’s Golden Age.  Here’s the introduction. Every Friday for the next seven weeks, Mediate.com will be publishing a series of peer reviewed articles under the collective title Seven Keys to Unlock Mediation’s Golden Age.  The objective of the Seven Keys is to encourage discussion among all stakeholders on navigating mediation’s best future. The seven keys are: Leadership, Data, Education, Profession, Technology, Government and Usage.  Each key has between two and four articles, each no more than 1,111 words in length, contributed by some 40 leading…

Some of our colleagues recently contributed their new and updated syllabi and teaching materials to share on the DRLE website, as follows.  Thanks to all of them as well as everyone who previously generously contributed syllabi and teaching materials. I hoped to include instructions for students about managing online environment but I didn’t get any.  Do you have any such materials you would like to share?  Or other syllabi or teaching materials? ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution (2019) – Sam Jackson, University of North Carolina Alternative Dispute Resolution (2020) – Charles Pillsbury, Quinnipiac University Alternative Dispute Resolution (2020) – Andrea…

Following in the footsteps of Nancy Rogers and Josh Stulberg, our Indisputably colleague Sarah Cole has been named the Michael E. Moritz Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution at Ohio State.  Those are big shoes to fill, and Sarah is more than up to the task. Congratulations Sarah !! And, how lucky OSU is to have one of the few endowed ADR chairs at a law school.…

Imre Szalai let me know that cert was granted (again) in HENRY SCHEIN, INC. V. ARCHER AND WHITE SALES, INC. A nice write up of the issues to be addressed in the return of Schein can be found at: https://blog.cpradr.org/2020/06/15/supreme-court-returns-schein-to-its-docket-with-a-focus-on-arbitrability/…

Greetings Colleagues! Please find attached to this message the compilation of the 2020 Legal Educators’ Resource Share which this year was held during the virtual ABA DR Section Conference. Noam and I appreciated seeing so many of you… and for your continued generosity in sharing your experience. The main document is annotated with yellow highlights for “new additions” and blue highlights for “updated information.”  I also have included the Appendices from this year (starts with Appendix I) and from last year (A – H). Hopefully, this information will be helpful to you as you continue your planning for the…

GFOI Jackie Font wrote this op-ed  in the wake of the current events highlighting historic racial injustices:   Here are ways that the academic community can promote racial equality.  (Click on the title of this post to read the article.)…

My friend and colleague Rick Bales posted the following on Workplaceprof Blog: The Current Status of [Online?] Labor Arbitration In March 2020, many states imposed stay-at-home orders because of the covid-19 pandemic. Most labor arbitration hearings were postponed. However, as it became clear that the pandemic would not be going away quickly, arbitrators and parties began to consider online hearings. A consensus quickly emerged that Zoom would be the online platform of choice because it, unlike most other platforms, has the functionality to create breakout rooms. The National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA) and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) quickly…

If you teach students that it’s important to analyze their BATNAs, consider including material in your course on litigation interest and risk assessment, aka LIRA. Virtually every negotiation, mediation, and ADR survey course teaches students that they should figure out their BATNA when negotiating or mediating. That is sooooo much easier said than done, as I learned when co-authoring the LIRA book with Michaela Keet and Heather Heavin. And people need to determine their bottom lines by adjusting the BATNAs to reflect the future tangible and intangible costs of going to trial. Deciding on bottom lines often is way more…

Linda Seely, the director of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, announced the following programs, which are free for Section members: June 10 at 1pm ET – Leveraging ADR to Strengthen Your Client’s Enterprise. This session prepares lawyers to help their clients leverage ADR in workplace litigation to repair the employer/employee relationship, clearing a path to re-engagement.  Seasoned experts will share how advocates can guide their clients in transforming workplace conflict into an opportunity for change in organizational policies and practices that tap employee potential and improve resilience.   June 11 at 1 pm ET – How to Effectively …