EMW in India has launched a new International Online Directory of Mediators, and registration is free for all global mediators.
The partners in this project include E-Mediation Writings (EMW) Mediate.com, Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI), Association for India International Mediation & Arbitration Services (AIIMAS), Association of Mediation Practitioners (AMP), and Ex-Curia International.
You can register here.
Continue Reading New International Directory of Mediators – Free Registration

For the past several years, Roselle Wissler (Arizona State) and I have been reporting findings about the early stages of mediation from online survey data collected (pre-pandemic) from over 1000 private and court-based mediators in 8 states across the country.
Our latest article from this data set, Mediators’ Views of What Can Be Achieved Better in Initial Joint Sessions and in Initial Separate Caucuses  recently published in the Washington University Journal of Law & Policy, finds that mediators see these initial joint sessions and initial caucuses as having many of the benefits conventionally ascribed to them, despite recent changes…
Continue Reading Getting off to A Good Start – Empirical Findings on the Early Stages of Mediation

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 Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox Corporation and Fox News is just the kind of case in which a trial would have provided deep accountability.  Instead, according to New York Times columnist David French, the settlement enables Fox to avoid accountability and “pay for…
Continue Reading The Deplorable Vanishing of Fox’s Trial

From Tracey Frisch, Senior Counsel, AAA:
Please join the AAA-ICDR Foundation and grantee Mediators Beyond Borders International for a special presentation by Ukrainian social psychologist, Dr. Iryna Eihelson.
The talk will focus on the importance of trauma-informed practices when working with people affected by humanitarian crises. Dr. Eihelson’s observations are informed by her experience as a psychologist, a conflict transformation practitioner, a peace educator, and as an internally displaced person from Crimea.
In 2022 the AAA-ICDR Foundation, responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ensuing humanitarian crisis, provided a Rapid Response grant to Mediators Beyond Borders International to work…
Continue Reading AAA-ICDR Foundation Presents Trauma-Informed Peacebuilding, Lessons Learned from Ukraine, May 3rd 6-8pm

Rishi Batra (St. Mary’s) kindly provides us with a run-down of last weekend’s National Finals Round of the ABA Representation in Mediation Competition.  Thanks to Rishi, A.J. Bellido de Luna, the competition committee, and the entire team at St. Mary’s for doing a great job running the competition.  And, congratulations to all who made it to nationals, particularly this year’s national champion – (spoiler alert) – Ohio State !
On April 15th and 16th, St. Mary’s University School of Law hosted the American Bar Association (ABA) Representation in Mediation Competition National Finals in San Antonio, TX. This prestigious event…
Continue Reading 2023 ABA Representation in Mediation Competition – National Finals Round

From Elayne Greenberg:
Please join us online as we present the St. John’s University School of Law Carey Center’s 2023 Dispute Resolution Advancement Award to Professors Jessica Bregant, Jennifer K. Robbennolt, and Verity Winship.  They  will discuss the award-winning research reported in their Harvard Negotiation Law Review article, “Perceptions of Settlement.”  Read more about this year’s award winners.
Starting with the premise that little is known about how people in the United States perceive settlement, the scholars investigated and compared public perceptions of settlement with perceptions of other case outcomes, such as a jury verdict or the filing of a legal case.  The fielded data suggest that lay people…
Continue Reading St. John’s Carey Center Award Ceremony on April 19, 2023

I just saw that two of my favorite people, 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 to resolve problems.
Legal education can help prepare law graduates to do that work. As an added bonus, doing so would in turn help law students understand and retain the subjects they study.
Law professors who teach alternative dispute resolution, lawyering skills, clinics, and sometimes…
Continue Reading Problem-Resolution Lawyering Across the Twenty-First Century Law Curriculum

I am delighted to link to Bob Bordone’s analysis of a viral exchange earlier this month between USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai and U.S. Congressman Greg Murphy (R-NC).  
Short take:  Murphy calls Tai “too nice” to be an effective negotiator, highlighting outdated and incorrect gender and racial tropes.  Moreover, the Congressman is both wrong on the facts about her and about what is effective negotiation.  Ambassador Tai handles him beautifully–demonstrating her terrific skills–and Bob does a masterful job of explaining this.  I also think it’s a great clip for classes.  I would definitely use this before or after my own TED talk and/or…
Continue Reading Ambassador Katherine Tai–and the (Sexist Racist) Assumptions About Negotiation Skills

From Gary Doernhoefer:
Open AI’s very public unveiling of ChatGPT has launched the debate in many fields over how artificial intelligence (AI) could be put to good use, contrasted with its potential for misuse.  There is a path for the dispute resolution profession to lead as an example of responsible development of this technology.  First though, let’s look at what this new technology is, how it was developed thus far, and some of the issues arising in its application.
ChatGPT, its successor version, GPT-4, and the comparable tools released by others like Google’s Bard, are based on large language models.
Continue Reading A Proposal for the Joint Development of Generative AI for the Dispute Resolution Profession

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 Error, the first part of this article addresses the reality that we all are wrong much of the time, and that listening is essential to get a better understanding of the world and to interact productively.  We can’t correct our errors without recognizing our…
Continue Reading The Importance of Really Listening – For Ourselves, Others, and Democracy

Please join us for our last event on April 18, 2023.  Our speaker is Bruce Edwards, whose talk is entitled, “Mediation Begins with Me: A Look at Self-Reflection, Self-Management, and Self-Compassion.”Bruce has been an industry pioneer in developing the field of alternative dispute resolution. As a founding partner of JAMS, he has worked at the epicenter of the business of mediation for the past three decades. Since 1986 he has mediated over 8000 disputes throughout the United States involving complex, multiparty lawsuits and specializing in matters of high emotion.  He rounds out a terrific lineup of speakers we’ve had…
Continue Reading Last Event in UC Law SF’s 2023 ADR Speaker Series

Donna Shestowsky, the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law, will deliver the 2023 Schwartz Lecture on Dispute Resolution on April 12, 2023 at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.  Titled “Discussing Procedure”, the lecture will begin at 12:10 ET and conclude at or before 1:20.  If you are in Columbus, we’d be delight to host you in-person for this hybrid event!
Register here to join us on zoom: https://go.osu.us/schwartz2023.
A short description of the lecture follows:
The ability to discuss dispute resolution procedures with clients is an important skill for…
Continue Reading Donna Shestowsky to deliver Moritz’s Schwartz Lecture on April 12!

From Gary Doernhoefer:
The impact of new technology is being felt in every profession.  To consider the future of technology in dispute resolution, we need to start with a snapshot of how practitioners currently use technology and their attitudes about its future application to the profession.
Please help us gain these insights by taking 10 minutes to complete this anonymous survey prepared by the ABA Dispute Resolution Technology Committee Fellows.
You can use any type of device, so grab a cup of coffee or tea and your phone, tablet or computer and take a break to fill it out.  And…
Continue Reading Please Take the ABA Survey on Use of Technology in ADR