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TEDx: Lawyers as Peacemakers. Really?!? Yes, Really.
July 3, 2016
David A. Hoffman is a mediator, arbitrator, attorney, and founding member of Boston Law Collaborative, LLC. A graduate of Princeton University, Cornell University, and Harvard Law School, he has received a number of awards for his work, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and the D’Alemberte-Raven Award from the American Bar Association’s Section of Dispute Resolution. He teaches courses on Mediation and Collaborative Law at Harvard Law School,...
July 3, 2016
David A. Hoffman is a mediator, arbitrator, attorney, and founding member of Boston Law Collaborative, LLC. A graduate of Princeton University, Cornell University, and Harvard Law School, he has received a number of awards for his work, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and the D’Alemberte-Raven Award from the American Bar Association’s Section of Dispute Resolution. He teaches courses on Mediation and Collaborative Law at Harvard Law School,...
New Jersey Becomes Third Recent State Court to Refuse To Enforce Delegation Clause
June 29, 2016
In a decision that appears intentionally controversial, the Supreme Court of New Jersey yesterday refused to enforce the delegation...
June 29, 2016
In a decision that appears intentionally controversial, the Supreme Court of New Jersey yesterday refused to enforce the delegation...
Employees and Employers
June 28, 2016
Following are two interesting and recent federal court rulings related to arbitration. Future Disputes are beyond Arbitral Authority Minnesota Nurses Association v. North Memorial Health Care After completing 30 years of service, Nurse Lynette Drake asked to be relieved of the obligation to work weekends. When her supervisor required her to report under a “needed-nurses” exception, Drake filed a grievance. The arbitrator concluded that the exception was properly invoked. However, in order...
June 28, 2016
Following are two interesting and recent federal court rulings related to arbitration. Future Disputes are beyond Arbitral Authority Minnesota Nurses Association v. North Memorial Health Care After completing 30 years of service, Nurse Lynette Drake asked to be relieved of the obligation to work weekends. When her supervisor required her to report under a “needed-nurses” exception, Drake filed a grievance. The arbitrator concluded that the exception was properly invoked. However, in order...
TAA Provides Exclusive Grounds for Vacatur; Extra-Statutory Grounds Not Allowed
June 28, 2016
In Hoskins v. Colonel Clifton Hoskins and Hoskins, Inc., the Texas Supreme Court resolved a split of authority on the question...
June 28, 2016
In Hoskins v. Colonel Clifton Hoskins and Hoskins, Inc., the Texas Supreme Court resolved a split of authority on the question...
Don’t Find Yourself SOL: Know Whether the Statute of Limitations Applies to Your Arbitration
June 28, 2016
Statutes of limitations provide peace of mind for many attorneys and clients, knowing previous conduct cannot lead to liability after a prescribed time period. But, do statutes of limitations apply to arbitration proceedings? The answer is: not necessarily. Because of that, advocates and parties need to know when statutes of limitation may apply as well as how they can revise their arbitration clauses to avoid this confusion. The benefits of applying the statute of limitations to arbitration...
June 28, 2016
Statutes of limitations provide peace of mind for many attorneys and clients, knowing previous conduct cannot lead to liability after a prescribed time period. But, do statutes of limitations apply to arbitration proceedings? The answer is: not necessarily. Because of that, advocates and parties need to know when statutes of limitation may apply as well as how they can revise their arbitration clauses to avoid this confusion. The benefits of applying the statute of limitations to arbitration...
Make the Most of Your Mediation: The Neighbor Dispute
June 27, 2016
Disputes between neighbors are among the most blistering battles in the courthouse. As one advocate observed during a break in Day 3 of Hatfield v. McCoy, “At least in a divorce, one of the parties moves out of the house.” Like a divorce, neighbor disputes are expensive, emotional, and greatly in need of skillful resolution. Here are five tools lawyers and neutrals can use to settle these quarrelsome cases. 1. Engage experts to generate practical solutions. 2. Conduct a site inspection. 3....
June 27, 2016
Disputes between neighbors are among the most blistering battles in the courthouse. As one advocate observed during a break in Day 3 of Hatfield v. McCoy, “At least in a divorce, one of the parties moves out of the house.” Like a divorce, neighbor disputes are expensive, emotional, and greatly in need of skillful resolution. Here are five tools lawyers and neutrals can use to settle these quarrelsome cases. 1. Engage experts to generate practical solutions. 2. Conduct a site inspection. 3....
Ninth Circuit on Uber Arbitration
June 27, 2016
From this morning’s National Law Journal article (available here) reporting on the 9th circuit’s consideration of the appeal from a N.D.CA court’s finding that Uber’s arbitration clause was unenforceable for reasons of unconscionability: According to Uber, Chen’s rulings refused to follow the Ninth Circuit’s 2013 en banc decision in Kilgore v. KeyBank, which held that an arbitration agreement cannot be deemed procedurally unconscionable if it provides meaningful opportunity to opt out. Laura...
June 27, 2016
From this morning’s National Law Journal article (available here) reporting on the 9th circuit’s consideration of the appeal from a N.D.CA court’s finding that Uber’s arbitration clause was unenforceable for reasons of unconscionability: According to Uber, Chen’s rulings refused to follow the Ninth Circuit’s 2013 en banc decision in Kilgore v. KeyBank, which held that an arbitration agreement cannot be deemed procedurally unconscionable if it provides meaningful opportunity to opt out. Laura...
RFP for the ABA DR Section’s Spring Conference
June 27, 2016
If you haven’t already received the RFP for the ABA DR Section’s Spring Conference via email (from the ABA itself or on the listserv...
June 27, 2016
If you haven’t already received the RFP for the ABA DR Section’s Spring Conference via email (from the ABA itself or on the listserv...
Negotiating with Clients You Can’t Afford to Lose
June 26, 2016
If a customer is really pressing you for a discount, talk about features or services the customer would be willing to give up to get it — a “give-get.” These little gems force buyers to recognize that while they may be able to reduce costs, there will be less value in the solution offered. Give-gets force the discussion from price back to where it should be: value. This leads the conversation away from haggling, to a more illuminating and productive discussion around what the customer really...
June 26, 2016
If a customer is really pressing you for a discount, talk about features or services the customer would be willing to give up to get it — a “give-get.” These little gems force buyers to recognize that while they may be able to reduce costs, there will be less value in the solution offered. Give-gets force the discussion from price back to where it should be: value. This leads the conversation away from haggling, to a more illuminating and productive discussion around what the customer really...
China Makes New Supercomputing Gains
June 26, 2016
For first time, China places more machines than the U.S. on Top500 list China has bolstered its claim to leadership in the highest reaches of computing with a world-beating system that was built with homegrown processor chips. A massive machine in the city of Wuxi grabbed the top spot in a twice-yearly ranking of the 500 fastest scientific computers, offering more than twice the performance of another Chinese system that has led the list for three years. The supercomputer’s test performance...
June 26, 2016
For first time, China places more machines than the U.S. on Top500 list China has bolstered its claim to leadership in the highest reaches of computing with a world-beating system that was built with homegrown processor chips. A massive machine in the city of Wuxi grabbed the top spot in a twice-yearly ranking of the 500 fastest scientific computers, offering more than twice the performance of another Chinese system that has led the list for three years. The supercomputer’s test performance...
