When people are in genuine dialogue, the content that is being communicated does not exist prior to and independently of that particular context. Dialogue is a success when parties say something they have not said before….
Three years ago, this blog catalogued where all the federal circuits stood on the issue of whether an arbitration award that “manifestly disregarded the law” could be vacated under the Federal Arbitration Act, as that is not one of the four bases for vacatur listed in Section 10.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has left its early stages and is now coming into full maturity in the U.S. courts and, more recently, outside of them. In 2004, Marc Galanter’s groundbreaking research noted that trials were vanishing rapidly from the US court system: 11.5% of filed federal cases ended in trial in 1962, but fell to 1.8 percent in 2002, due mostly to ADR and negotiated settlements
“U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert C. Mitchell of the Western District of Pennsylvania declined to read the arbitration clauses that were part of other contracts signed by Karen Bucher, the plaintiff, with Citigroup entities as applying to the life insurance policy at issue in this case.”
John Dupuis works at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) in the mediation program is much the same. He brings together two different parties to make an alternative conclusion that is hopefully a positive one.
The American Bar Association has recognized the third week of October as National Mediation Week, which provides us with the opportunity to promote the use of mediation and related forms of collaborative problem solving.
Mediators tend to believe practically every conflict can be resolved through negotiation, and that settlement is almost always better than the alternatives of continued conflict or an adversarial form of conflict resolution like trial. Mediators like to quote Abraham Lincoln’s admonition to discourage litigation and persuade neighbors to compromise, because lawyers do the most good as peacemakers.
Maybe it’s time to call in a mediator since President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans are in stalemate over a partial government shutdown which is now in its second week.
Labor unions overwhelmingly opposed this measure which basically allows elected officials to have the final say on an arbitrator’s award. While Arbitration is clearly being undermined, critics of the new measure must ask if arbitration is the ideal forum to resolve labor disputes in these economic times.
Amidst the transition that is occurring in Sudan, it is important that the parties work toward resolution, lest the parties end up in deadlock that is “eerily similar” to the failed peace agreements during the Abuja process.
