An arbitration is typically concluded by the issuance of a final award on the merits. However, in the course of a case, arbitrators may bifurcate the proceedings and issue interim awards to decide separate issues.1 For example, an interim award may be used to issue a merits decision prior to further hearings on damages, or prior … Continued

A highly visible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sphere of sport took place in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) where employment disputes with athletes included efforts to justify non-performance or early termination of contracts, based on the doctrines of force majeure1 and/or clausula rebus sic stantibus.2 Even though clubs’ reliance on these doctrines in … Continued

Everyone knows that the term “ADR” makes no sense. But we stick with it because there’s no general consensus for a preferable alternative. This article argues that dispute system design (DSD) is a better paradigm that should succeed ADR. Thomas S. Kuhn’s classic book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, describes the process of the famous “paradigm … Continued

Partnered by the excellent Danielle Shalov, I spent quite a bit of time during the pandemic training lawyers, including New York State Court staff, basic and advanced mediation skills. And part of that training was always to show them the iceberg—the same iceberg that Peter Robinson used when training me in Pepperdine in 2008. Look, … Continued

There is no real dispute that when court cases are moved from litigation to mediation substantial benefits inure to all concerned. From the perspective of the court system, mediation and resulting settlements in a significant percentage of cases (or claims) help to ease burdens on dockets and court budgets, as well as to winnow out … Continued

In the last two-plus years we, along with colleagues from a variety of fields, have enlisted a number of lawyers in a very unusual project—how to engage in a type of conflict often called grey zone conflict or hybrid warfare. Our conflict management experts have come from a wide array of legal settings ranging from … Continued

The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (UPICC),1 a private codification of international rules of law drawing from legal traditions and political systems around the globe, represents a decades-long effort to articulate a consensus rule or, in some instances, a compromise or better rule approach to issues that arise in commercial disputes. UPICC has been the … Continued

As someone who has worked in the online dispute resolution (ODR) field for more than two decades, I can’t count the number of times someone has asked me if I was working on the creation of a robot mediator or arbitrator. Ninety-nine percent of my time in ODR has focused on how to use technology … Continued

Introduction What are the ethical considerations for a mediator when a neutral is asked to be both the mediator and arbitrator on the same case? Some parties and their lawyers opt to select one neutral to serve as both the mediator and arbitrator on the same case, believing it will be a more efficient and cost-effective … Continued

The declaration of a worldwide pandemic in 2020 led to many terrible events and extraordinary changes. The world of alternative dispute resolution shifted on its axis, adapting by adopting new approaches and technologies to processes geared to helping disputants resolve issues and get back to business. The changes made in the face of necessity would … Continued