Tag Archives: Skills and Techniques

Taking Advantage of the NextGen Bar to Stimulate Changes in Legal Education

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At this year’s excellent AALS ADR Section Works-in-Progress conference, I invited people to share their perspectives about how we can take advantage of the NextGen bar exam to stimulate changes in legal education. This short article suggests how reformers can do this, and it includes colleagues’ ideas from the conference. Starting in July 2026, the … Continue reading Taking Advantage of the NextGen Bar to Stimulate Changes in Legal Education →

Do You Want to Be Helped, Heard or Hugged?

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When Someone You Love Is Upset, Ask This One Question, writes New York Times “wellness columnist” Jancee Dunn. It’s a helpful question for almost anyone – including colleagues, students, and clients – even if you don’t love them.  This question can give people a sense of control, which they may really appreciate, especially when they … Continue reading Do You Want to Be Helped, Heard or Hugged? →

Teaching Students to Focus on Party Decision-Making

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I was thrilled that my recent post, Focus on Party Decision-Making, prompted a stimulating conversation on the DRLE listserv, including thoughtful comments by Mary Bedikian, Doug Frenkel, Dwight Golann, Deborah Hensler, Charlie Irvine, Andrew Mamo, Cash Nickerson, Peter Philips, Jim Stark, Jean Sternlight, Nancy Welsh, and Roselle Wissler. This post discusses some issues in the … Continue reading Teaching Students to Focus on Party Decision-Making →

Focus on Party Decision-Making

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A major motivation in the modern dispute resolution movement has been to increase and improve parties’ decision-making in their legal disputes. Historically, parties often had little opportunity to exercise much control after they retained attorneys to handle their disputes.  Attorneys often acted paternalistically, taking control over virtually every aspect of the cases.  The legal system … Continue reading Focus on Party Decision-Making →

Charlie Irvine’s Challenge to Mediators to Describe Your Mediation System

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Charlie Irvine is the Course Leader on the University of Strathclyde’s (Scotland) MSc/LLM in Mediation and Conflict Resolution and the Director of the Strathclyde Mediation Clinic.  The Clinic provides a free mediation service in which experienced practitioners work alongside trainee mediators to help people resolve disputes without going to court or tribunal. The following is … Continue reading Charlie Irvine’s Challenge to Mediators to Describe Your Mediation System →

How Can Courts – Practically for Free – Help Parties Prepare for Mediation Sessions?

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If there’s anything approaching unanimity in our field, it’s that it’s important to prepare in dispute resolution processes like mediation. So it’s almost boring to write about it.  But I found some things that should be interesting and helpful for parties, practitioners, and mediation program administrators. Last December, I wrote a short article, The Critical … Continue reading How Can Courts – Practically for Free – Help Parties Prepare for Mediation Sessions? →

Teaching Students How Practitioners Really Think and Act

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How cool would it be for your students to interview lawyers, mediators, arbitrators, or other practitioners about how they really think and act in their work? Practitioners generally develop their own categories of routine and challenging situations in their work, and they develop regular practices and strategies for dealing with them.  In mediation, this involves … Continue reading Teaching Students How Practitioners Really Think and Act →

Party Self-Empowerment from Preparation for Mediation Sessions

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In The Critical Importance of Pre-Session Preparation in Mediation, I explained why parties’ preparation for their mediation sessions can produce many significant benefits.  This post suggests that preparation before mediation sessions is an important opportunity for parties to empower themselves. People have used the concept of “empowerment” in mediation in various ways, as I described … Continue reading Party Self-Empowerment from Preparation for Mediation Sessions →

Len Riskin Pulls It All Together in Managing Conflict Mindfully

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I had the good fortune to be Len Riskin’s colleague from 2000, when I arrived in Missouri, until he moved to the University of Florida in 2007. He now is a Visiting Professor of Law and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Center on Negotiation, Mediation, and Restorative Justice at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law … Continue reading Len Riskin Pulls It All Together in Managing Conflict Mindfully →

What We Do Is So Important

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My colleague, Ilhyung Lee, pointed me to another graduation speech highlighting the importance of generally listening respectfully to and engaging with people we disagree with.  He sent me a link to a speech by University of Chicago Law Professor Tom Ginsburg, entitled “Conversation and Democracy.”  I had cited Bret Stephen’s speech and Jen Reynolds linked … Continue reading What We Do Is So Important →