Business Conflict Blog

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.

Read more »

Tags: ADR, Arbitration, Employment, Mediation, Public Policy

J. Michael Hand didn’t like the Walnut Valley Sailing Club’s storage shed.  A member of the club, though not disabled himself, Mr. Hand thought the structure didn’t comply with the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  So he sued.

The Walnut Valley Sailing Club didn’t like being sued, and it terminated Mr. Hand’s membership in the club.

Mr. Hand didn’t like getting terminated, so he sued again, this time for unlawful retaliation under the ADA.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas ordered the parties to mediation, which proved unsuccessful.  And after the mediation Mr. Hand sent an e-mail to at least 44 club members (and others) disparaging the club’s positions and relating all the details of the mediation, including what the mediator said and the amount of the club’s settlement offer.

The District Court didn’t like that.  Indeed, it didn’t like it so much that it dismissed Mr. Hand’s suit with prejudice, by way of sanction.  Mr. Hand did what any good American would do — he appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Read more »

Tags: Courts, Mediation, Public Policy

An attorney keeps her client files on the hard drive of her laptop.  These files include confidential and sensitive client information, and attorney-client communications.  Leaving a dentist appointment, she discovers that her car’s windows have been smashed and that the property inside the car — including her GPS and her laptop — have been stolen.  She has not yet backed-up some of the data on the hard drive and cannot now duplicate the file for the client.

The client is furious.  The lawyer is mortified.  Is she also unethical? Read more »

Tags: Lawyers, Public Policy

The 16^th meeting of the World Mediation Forum of the UIA was held in Lisbon, Portugal, on January 27-28, 2012.  It was very well attended; Co-President Colin Wall noted that attendees came from 31 countries.

A panel on mandatory mediation brought out some interesting recent developments, including a game-changer in Italy.  Read more »

Tags: Courts, Mediation, Public Policy