The enormous increase in international transactions in goods and services has had a substantial impact on the need for dispute resolution mechanisms around the world. Cross-border transactions have grown significantly in recent years. Regarding business-to-business (B2B) transactions, encompassing goods and services, in the three months ending in May of 2024 compared to the three months ending in … Continued

As colleagues in the dispute resolution field, we have likely participated in the ongoing, often heated debate about the role, if any, of empathy in dispute resolution. There are those colleagues who believe that empathy will only muck up what is really important, the bottom-line number and your evaluation about how to get there. On … Continued

Is Settlement Just About Money? In our professional lives, we often observe myopic lawyers and mediators who misperceive that most disputes are just about money. According to this skewed view, justice is measured by dollar signs. From the vantage point of these shortsighted colleagues, the negotiation metaphor “expanding the pie,” in which negotiating parties make … Continued

Courts Must Stay Actions When Granting Motion To Compel A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court clarified that the FAA meant what it said when requiring a court to stay proceedings when a party requests a stay. The Ninth Circuit in this case had ruled that instead a court could dismiss the action once referred to arbitration. … Continued

Will a court enforce an arbitral award of attorneys’ fees when the parties’ contract contains an arbitration clause requiring each party to bear its own counsel fees, and where the contract is governed by New York law and the arbitration is to be administered under the American Arbitration Association’s rules? In an important recent decision … Continued

Professional Judgment for Lawyers by Randall Kiser For over fifteen years, Randall Kiser has been challenging lawyer decision-making and risk assessment. His seminal work studying settlement rejections demonstrated an unexpectedly high rate of “decision error” which resulted far too often in either plaintiffs’ recoveries at trial lower than the settlement offered or significantly greater payouts by … Continued

In recent years dispute resolution service providers, professional associations, and court-annexed ADR programs have launched initiatives to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) among dispute resolution practitioners. These programs seek to recruit, train, and support members of historically underrepresented communities in the mediation and arbitration fields and provide them with the necessary training and experience … Continued

As arbitral institutions and other ADR organizations continue to evaluate the extent of their commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion in the dispute resolution profession, the authors share their personal insights and perspectives about the importance and meaning of focused mentoring and inclusion. In the summer of 2022, the authors were selected to participate in … Continued

In 2018, a survey by Queen Mary University of London and White & Case found that 64 percent of arbitration professional respondents had never used a virtual hearing room.1 By 2021, the numbers flipped—72 percent of respondents reported using a virtual hearing room “sometimes,” “frequently,” or “always.”2 This change will surprise few in practice over the last several years. … Continued

I. Introduction On November 30, 2022, ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, was launched to the public. Since then, other institutions have released their own AI tools. More than 92% of Fortune 500 companies reportedly use these daily.1 This new development of AI, called Generative AI, has impacted all sectors, including the legal profession.2 The … Continued