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ADR Professionals as Both Mediators and Arbitrators in the Same Matter
This article describes the virtues and pitfalls of a neutral party serving as both the mediator and as the arbitrator in the same matter, where the disputing parties have adopted a two-step Med-Arb or an Arb-Med process.
Non-directive Empathic Listening
In this paper I will share how I found out that the listening approach I have used for almost two decades was completely unique--based on a happy misunderstanding.
Being Unafraid to Feel
When we feel emotional about a conflict – hurt, anger, betrayal, disappointment, and so on – it is a clear sign that something important to us is being challenged or threatened or undermined.
Love’s New Mediation Data: Whither the Joint Session?
Mediation, Love says, “is the last bastion,” with mediators trained to promote dialogue.
Divorce Noise
It’s so normal for us to ask questions and want information from those who have already been through this overwhelming time in our lives.
SIT-COMflicts
No matter what the issue, it seems that it only takes 1-2 episodes to work out conflicts when watching sit-coms.
Book Review: The Art of Roleplay and Dispute Resolution Training
Role plays are one of the most common tools used by mediation trainers. In his new book Marc Bhalla takes a deeper look at how to use role plays effectively and shares some of his tested and effective scenarios.
The End Game
Deciding to divorce is likely going to be the biggest decision of your life, bigger than even deciding to get married in the first place, and how you choose to proceed will make all the difference.
A Negotiation Innovation: An intelligent negotiation assistant
I am sitting in a room, negotiating a sale, and I’m thinking: Which is likely to be more favorable to me: put a figure on the table, or insist the Other does so first?
Arbitration in the Age of Covid: Examining Arbitration's Move Online
This article discusses how recent jurisprudence and institutional promulgations may impact Online Arbitration ('OArb'), and offers considerations for courts, policymakers, and practitioners shepherding OArb development.
2020 Survey of TMT Sector Investor-State Arbitration
This article aims to consider any new trends in the Technology, media, and telecommunications (“TMT”) area, and to offer some thoughts on the potential implications for investors and states.
New 2021 ICC Arbitration Rules
As it continues to enjoy record caseloads during the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce sets out its vision for the future of dispute resolution with newly updated arbitration rules.
Arbitration Tips-N-Tools (TNT): Round 2
In this round of Arbitration Tips-N-Tools, Professor Amy Schmitz asks some of the leading arbitration practitioners about planning and executing a preliminary arbitration hearing, especially in a digital world and faced with the complexities of the Covid-19 pandemic.
FINRA DRS Postpones In-Person Hearings through Beginning of April
FINRA’s Office of Dispute Resolution Services (“DRS”) has again administratively postponed all in-person arbitration and mediation hearings.
Best 10 Books About Mediation Ever Written
The difference in opinions, beliefs, views, values, and desires, plus the need to establish supremacy of one over the others often causes conflicts to arise in different situations.
Pandemic Pivot - ADR Poised for Prominence During Recovery
Never have we been more needed, and never have we needed to be more flexible.
Landscape of Dispute Resolution
When you hear about the word landscape of dispute resolution, the first thing that comes to the mind of the people is litigation before a court of competent jurisdiction. However, the parties need to be made aware that the landscape of dispute resolution is wider. It includes along with litigation, arbitration and mediation.
Egalitarian Change – Our Roles and Responsibilites
“Never let a good crisis go to waste” – Alistair McIntosh
5 Zoom Lessons for Leaders
During the pandemic, business leaders can learn from educators about overcoming the communication challenges that video conferencing platforms present.
Introducing Arbitral Courts—Part Arbitration, Part Court
In recent years, governments from the state of Delaware to the Emirate of Dubai have created institutions specially designed to adjudicate transnational commercial disputes, which are hybrids between courts and arbitration, or “arbitral courts.”
10 Actions We Can Take to Turn Adversarial, Autocratic, Power-Based Political Conflicts into Collaborative, Democratic, Interest-Based Social Problem Solving
Because democracy is open, it is vulnerable to demagogues and autocrats; yet because it is open, it is also resilient, able to learn and improve, and responsive to popular wisdom.
How to AVOID Conflict Gracefully
If you’re good at selective conflict avoidance, you will have a greater sense of order and control in your life.
Authenticity in Conflict
Many times in tense situations there is a strong desire to minimize the conflict.
[PODCAST] Reflecting on Nine Months of Virtual ADR
A special podcast from JAMS featuring neutrals Adrienne Publicover and David Ross on their experiences and lessons learned since shifting to virtual mediations.
Canada – Mediator Appointed as Arbitrator for Disputes Involving Settlement Negotiated During Later Arbitration
In the Corporation of the Township of South Stormont v. The Kraft Heinz Company following an unsuccessful mediation phase regarding disputes under a 2011 agreement, the parties engaged in arbitration during which they negotiated a 2017 settlement and agreed to arbitrate disputes before the mediator.
Halliburton v Chubb: UK Supreme Court Clarifies Position on Arbitrators’ Duties of Impartiality and Disclosure in London-seated Arbitrations
In Halliburton Company v Chubb Bermuda Insurance Ltd, the UK Supreme Court dismissed Halliburton’s appeal regarding its application to remove an arbitrator for apparent bias on the facts and emphasised the importance of arbitrator impartiality in London-seated arbitrations.
Arbitrator Awards Nearly $20 Million in ‘Egregious’ Discrimination Cases
An arbitrator awarded nearly $20 million to two former employees of a St. Louis-area janitorial company in what he said were some of the most egregious employment-discrimination cases he’d ever seen.
Canada – Trial Judge and Appeal Court Rely on Litigants’ Agreement to Repurpose Arbitral Award Findings of Fact
The Court of Appeal in Sky Clean Energy Ltd. v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company noted that the litigants had agreed that findings of fact made in an arbitration award would bind the trial judge and dismissed the appellant’s claims alleging interpretative error in an insurance contract.
Eleventh Circuit Upholds $3 Million Sanction FINRA Award Against Morgan Stanley
In an unpublished per curiam Opinion, the Eleventh Circuit, has affirmed unanimously a Southern District of Florida decision confirming a FINRA Award of over $3 million in sanctions against Morgan Stanley.
A Firmer View on Conflicts of Interest (Part 2)
This article discusses the differences between the Brazilian and English disclosure regimes, such as there is no codified duty to disclose in England and secondly, the exclusion of the word 'independence' from the English Arbitration Act, 1996 which appears in Article 14(1) of the Brazilian Arbitration Act 1996.
Let’s Make 2021 the Year of Resolutions
2020 was a tough year for many of us, from the pandemic to shutdowns to political chaos. Let's use the fresh start of the new year to set our sights on a more optimistic horizon.
Arbitration Conversation No. 42: Prof. Victoria Sahani of Arizona State University
In this episode of the Arbitration Conversation Amy interviews Prof. Victoria Shannon Sahani, Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.
Theory vs. Reality: Where the Rubber Hits the Road
After spending four months and 140 hours of intense theoretical study, I walked away from one of Toronto’s leading Universities with a certificate in Dispute Resolution. This was what happened when I stepped in to the real world.
How To Screw Up a Mediation in our Brave New World
FUBAR Zoom mediation: A Field Guide for Mediators. FUBAR = Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition
Vodafone v. India Award: Risky Business of Retroactive Taxation
In a recent, still unpublished award, India lost an arbitration dispute initiated by Vodafone because India had imposed a hefty tax bill of several billion dollars retroactively.
Arbitration Tips-N-Tools (TNT): Round 1
In this round of Arbitration Tips-N-Tools, Professor Amy Schmitz asks some of the leading arbitration practitioners about filing arbitration claims, especially in a digital world and faced with the complexities of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mediation Confidentiality in Federal Court
As a consequence of the absence of uniform adoption of the Uniform Mediation Act, the confidentiality of mediation communications in various jurisdictions often cannot be assured.
Ideas for Teaching Mediation and Negotiation
This article is prompted by my conversation with a really good, experienced colleague who is revising his mediation course.
Ultimatums in Conflict Resolution
Empty threats in dispute resolution change nothing.
Personality Matters!
This post discusses interesting ramifications of personalities, such as two individuals who are each “disagreeable” tend to get along the best.
Mediators, Time to Mend Our Nets
This article examines what we should do as mediators during the pandemic.
Collaboration is the Future
Lawyers love conflict. They thrive on it. If anyone can coexist with conflict, it’s a lawyer.
California Court of Appeal Extends the Reach of Section 16600 to Upset Arbitration Award Because of Alleged Overly Broad Confidentiality Provisions
In an expansive recent ruling, the California Court of Appeal in Brown v. TGS Management Co., LLC reversed a judgment confirming an arbitration award, examining the arbitrator’s findings, and ultimately invalidating confidentiality provisions in an employment agreement under Business and Professions Code section 16600.
Arbitration Conversation No. 41: George Friedman, Editor-in-Chief of Securities Arbitration Alert
In this episode of the Arbitration Conversation Amy interviews George H. Friedman, publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Securities Arbitration Alert and principal of George H. Friedman Consulting, LLC, providing expert advice on arbitration and mediation in general and the FINRA dispute resolution forum in particular.
'Tis the Season to Mediate or Arbitrate?
As an extraordinary year draws to a close and a brighter one (hopefully) beckons, we consider whether the compromises and sacrifices everyone has had to make to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 will inspire a greater willingness to rely on non-contentious means to resolve international commercial disputes.
Recent Developments in India-Related Arbitration
This article considers the recent Arbitration related developments in India such as the court decisions covering the limitation period for enforcement of foreign awards, the bilateral investment treaty updates, amendments to the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, etc.
Canada – Protracted Costly Litigation Highlights “Perils Of Not Having A Dispute Resolution Mechanism Built Into A Contract"
In North Pacific Properties Ltd v. Bethel United Churches, Justice Anna Loparco determined that the parties to an existing contract had not entered into a binding agreement to arbitrate disagreements and therefore had lost the opportunity to engage in less costly, less protracted dispute resolution.
SEC Approves FINRA Chair Honoraria Increases
FINRA’s Board of Governors in December 2019 authorized staff to submit a rule filing with the SEC increasing certain Chairperson honoraria and the SEC has now approved the proposal.
Resolving Cognitive Conflict in the Workplace
When two people are tasked to complete a project together, they may not always agree on how to get it done.
Conflict Resolution Trainer & Gun Lover
I teach Conflict Resolution. Why do I love Guns?