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Family Law Arbitration Act

Susan M. Yates, March 24th, 2015

People who have been involved with family law are likely to have encountered mediation, especially in child-related issues. But what about arbitration?

The Uniform Law Commission is in the midst of drafting a Family Law Arbitration Act designed to provide a structure for arbitration of family law matters. The draft act provides many of the typical characteristics of arbitration that distinguish it from litigation. For example, parties will enter arbitration through an agreement to arbitrate; parties select and hire their arbitrator; arbitration proceedings and awards can be confidential; and arbitration awards are final, with very limited causes for appeal to a court. Family law arbitration differs from commercial arbitration in some key respects, such as greater opportunities for judicial review of awards determining child custody and support.

Family arbitration is quite dissimilar from family mediation. Most importantly, the arbitrator makes a decision that (more…)

‘Tis the Season for Mediation

Susan M. Yates, December 9th, 2014

In what has become an annual tradition, here is RSI’s seasonal parody of the Twelve Day of Christmas. Enjoy!

For the first hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me a round table with a great view

For the second hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me two succinct summaries

For the third hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me three paraphrases

For the fourth hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me four mirrored feelings

For the fifth hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me five aspirin

For the sixth hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me six tested realities

For the seventh hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me seven caucuses

For the eighth hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me eight explored BATNAs

For the ninth hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me nine fresh perspectives

For the tenth hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me ten brainstorms

For the eleventh hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me eleven cookie breaks

For the twelfth hour of conflict, my neutral gave to me twelve resolved issues

Everyone at Resolution Systems Institute wishes all our friends happy holidays and a happy, healthy 2015!

Please Support the Renovation of CourtADR.org!

Susan M. Yates, September 26th, 2014

RSI is in the final months of a total renovation of CourtADR.org – the preeminent national source for advice and information about court-related ADR – and we need your help.  A generous donor has offered a new $5,000 matching grant to help us over the finish line. Every dollar you give will be matched 1:1 by our anonymous friend. Please click here to make a  tax-deductible contribution today so that we can finish the renovation by the end of the year!

On the renovated site:

  • RSI experts will offer all-new in-depth guidance to design, manage and evaluate every phase of a court ADR system
  • The face of the site will have more intuitive architecture, making it easier for you to find what you need
  • The inner workings of the site will be totally restructured, providing a more robust search with tailored results

All these improvements are being built around the core information – thousands of articles, rules, laws, research and program reports – that you and others expect from RSI.

RSI is very grateful that the JAMS Foundation generously underwrote half the costs of the renovation with a matching grant. Many big-hearted individuals matched that JAMS grant. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens with tech projects, the costs have risen. A simple way to access information requires complex technology.

We don’t usually use this blog to ask for your support; but we need your help now. If you would like to mail a check, please make it out to RSI and send it to RSI, 11 East Adams St., Suite 500, Chicago, IL 60603. Your tax-deductible support will help ensure that courts nationwide have free access to high-quality support for their ADR programs.

 

What’s Labor Day Got to Do with ADR?

Susan M. Yates, August 29th, 2014

For a while in the evolution of the ADR field, when two neutrals met they would sometimes ask what the other’s “profession of origin” was. What they meant was, “what did you do before you were a mediator?” There were some unspoken questions packed in there, too. They wanted to know, are you a full-time neutral or are you really from some other profession and trying to break into this one? And mostly I think they wanted to know, are you like me? Are you a lawyer, a therapist…?

I haven’t heard this question much recently. Maybe that is partly because ADR really is sinking into our society. Kids are mediating on playgrounds and deciding in college that they want to be mediators. Young adults are getting Masters Degrees in conflict resolution and looking to change the world. More people see mediation as their first career of choice, not the one they move to when they are tired of their original plan.

Even as conflict resolution increasingly becomes part of our everyday life, I would like to pay homage to a profession of origin that seems to be lost in the haze of ADR history. Thank you to the mediators and arbitrators who came from the labor relations field. (more…)

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