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Just Court ADR

The blog of Resolution Systems Institute

Archive for the ‘Ethics’ Category

Attending to Mediation Attendance

Just Court ADR, January 27th, 2012

January seems to be a popular month for birthdays among my friends, with six celebrations in three weekends.  Mostly, my husband and I have been able to attend together. But when the parties overlapped this past weekend, he went to one party and I to another. Though I called the other party to wish my friend a happy birthday, the call was no substitute for actually attending the party.

The conundrum of party attendance has me thinking about attendance in mediation. Some recent developments have revived the issue of what constitutes attendance, and who should attend. General consensus among neutrals, it seems, is that whenever possible, both parties in a dispute should attend mediation in person. (more…)

Delaware Arbitration Program Sued as Unconstitutional

Jennifer Shack, October 27th, 2011

Via Art Hinshaw at ADR Prof Blog, the judges in Delaware’s Chancery Court are being sued by the Delaware Coalition for Open Government for operating a private arbitration system. The crux of the lawsuit is that the court’s arbitration program for business disputes, in which sitting judges act as private arbitrators, is essentially a way for court proceedings to be held outside of public view. According to the complaint, this is a violation of the presumptive right to access to judicial proceedings and documents as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Read more about it here.

Speak Justly: Mediators and the Plain Language Movement

Just Court ADR, August 25th, 2011

As a follow-up to last week’s post about interpreter services being required for all mediations, I’d like to pass along a fascinating article titled The Politics and Power of Plain Language by Jane M. Siegel, a professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School (hat tip to Richard Zorza for highlighting this article in his recent post). Siegel references The Plain Writing Act of 2010, which requires federal agencies to write all new informational  or filing documents, including (more…)

Groundbreaking Court Decision Requires Courts to Comply with Mediators

Just Court ADR, July 15th, 2011

Housing advocates are lauding the Nevada Supreme Court’s trio of decisions, released Thursday, about Nevada’s foreclosure mediation program. However, under the surface of Pasillas, Redmon, and Leyva lurks factors that could cause upheaval (more…)

Reporting on Reporting on Good Faith

Just Court ADR, March 9th, 2011

No one wants parties in a mediation to sit at the table with their arms crossed, refusing to talk. But who, if anyone, should tell mediators how to evaluate a party’s good faith participation in mediation? (more…)

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