National Roundtable on Consumer/Employment Dispute Resolution
One of the most interesting sessions at the ABA Dispute Resolution meeting in Washington was a report on an initiative of the Straus Institute at Pepperdine and the Dickerson School of Law at Penn State: A National Roundtable on Consumer and Employment Dispute Resolution.
Consumer and employment arbitration is a difficult topic upon which to find rational discourse. It seems that folks tend to follow Pogo’s advice: “Don’t let the facts get in the way of your research.” Yet here are Co-Chairs Tom Stipanowich and Nancy Welsh forming a Planning Committee comprising Lisa Bingham, Larry Mills and Homer LaRue to invite 30 scholars, advocates, representatives, policymakers and ADR professionals to have a rational conversation on the topic last February. The session was conducted under “Chatham House Rules“ and a summary report reveals not only the topics discussed, but a work plan coming out of the initiative.
