Blog Archives
The Hot Housing Market and Odd Counteroffers
January 9, 2021
A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article (behind a pay wall) on unusual contingencies in recent real estate contracts. According to the article, the tight housing market has given sellers a bargaining advantage and made them feel more comfortable asking the buyer for more than just money. One seller, for example, made her acceptance contingent on the buyer agreeing to hang a fake skeleton outside the front door 365 days a year. The seller apparently...
January 9, 2021
A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article (behind a pay wall) on unusual contingencies in recent real estate contracts. According to the article, the tight housing market has given sellers a bargaining advantage and made them feel more comfortable asking the buyer for more than just money. One seller, for example, made her acceptance contingent on the buyer agreeing to hang a fake skeleton outside the front door 365 days a year. The seller apparently...
Here’s How Long-Distance Runners Are Different From The Rest Of Us
January 8, 2021
But what about the psychological traits that make someone suitable for long-distance running? What kind of person can withstand this kind of physical stress, and how? A new study in the Australian Journal of Psychology takes a look. Ultrarunners scored significantly higher on the resilience questionnaire than non-runners, and were more likely to indicate they used positive reappraisal when regulating their emotions — in other words, they were better able to reframe a situation with a positive...
January 8, 2021
But what about the psychological traits that make someone suitable for long-distance running? What kind of person can withstand this kind of physical stress, and how? A new study in the Australian Journal of Psychology takes a look. Ultrarunners scored significantly higher on the resilience questionnaire than non-runners, and were more likely to indicate they used positive reappraisal when regulating their emotions — in other words, they were better able to reframe a situation with a positive...
Some Questions at the Turn of the Year….
January 6, 2021
There are times when one is not sure what to say or do, especially if one aspires not simply to repeat or anticipate what others might say or do. What do you say when you don’t know what to say? What do you do when you don’t know what to do? As a mediator by profession, my response in practice to these questions would probably be to pause, in silence. And do nothing but rather wait to see what happens… In the vacuum of silence, all sorts of things may occur. It takes self-discipline just...
January 6, 2021
There are times when one is not sure what to say or do, especially if one aspires not simply to repeat or anticipate what others might say or do. What do you say when you don’t know what to say? What do you do when you don’t know what to do? As a mediator by profession, my response in practice to these questions would probably be to pause, in silence. And do nothing but rather wait to see what happens… In the vacuum of silence, all sorts of things may occur. It takes self-discipline just...
Mediation Confidentiality in Federal Court
January 5, 2021
As a consequence of the absence of uniform adoption of the Uniform Mediation Act, the confidentiality of mediation communications in various jurisdictions often cannot be assured. Thanks to Alan Waxman, President and CEO of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), for bringing to our attention the most recent contributions to this confusion. Things remain, as noted, un-uniform. In the Southern District a court has compelled mediator testimony to establish whether...
January 5, 2021
As a consequence of the absence of uniform adoption of the Uniform Mediation Act, the confidentiality of mediation communications in various jurisdictions often cannot be assured. Thanks to Alan Waxman, President and CEO of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), for bringing to our attention the most recent contributions to this confusion. Things remain, as noted, un-uniform. In the Southern District a court has compelled mediator testimony to establish whether...
In year-end report, Roberts praises “unsung heroes” of the pandemic
January 4, 2021
Chief Justice John Roberts issued his annual year-end report on Thursday, and the theme – perhaps unsurprisingly – was the coronavirus pandemic. Roberts paid tribute to everyone in the federal court system and the federal government who allowed the courts to carry out their work safely, but he singled out what he called the “‘first to fight’ in the judicial family – the trial courts and their staff.” But it was the federal trial courts that “faced the greatest challenge,” Roberts...
January 4, 2021
Chief Justice John Roberts issued his annual year-end report on Thursday, and the theme – perhaps unsurprisingly – was the coronavirus pandemic. Roberts paid tribute to everyone in the federal court system and the federal government who allowed the courts to carry out their work safely, but he singled out what he called the “‘first to fight’ in the judicial family – the trial courts and their staff.” But it was the federal trial courts that “faced the greatest challenge,” Roberts...
Kessler: “Family Law by the Numbers: The Story That Casebooks Tell”
January 3, 2021
Laura T. Kessler (Utah) recently posted to SSRN her paper Family Law by the Numbers: The Story That Casebooks Tell, 62 Arizona L. Rev. (2020). Here is the abstract: This Article presents the findings of a content analysis of 86 family law casebooks published in the United States from 1960 to 2019. Its purpose is to critically assess the discipline of family law with the aim of informing our understandings of family law’s history and exposing...
January 3, 2021
Laura T. Kessler (Utah) recently posted to SSRN her paper Family Law by the Numbers: The Story That Casebooks Tell, 62 Arizona L. Rev. (2020). Here is the abstract: This Article presents the findings of a content analysis of 86 family law casebooks published in the United States from 1960 to 2019. Its purpose is to critically assess the discipline of family law with the aim of informing our understandings of family law’s history and exposing...
Mediation May Help Couples Resolve Conflicts Better Than One-On-One Discussion
January 2, 2021
No matter how much you love your partner, there are always going to be things about them that get on your nerves. These can be fairly superficial — not liking the way they fold the laundry, for example, or hating their favourite TV show. Other problems can be more serious — fundamental failures to communicate or disagreements on big decisions like having children. There’s also evidence that we continue to repeat these patterns in new relationships, even when we hope to see a change. But...
January 2, 2021
No matter how much you love your partner, there are always going to be things about them that get on your nerves. These can be fairly superficial — not liking the way they fold the laundry, for example, or hating their favourite TV show. Other problems can be more serious — fundamental failures to communicate or disagreements on big decisions like having children. There’s also evidence that we continue to repeat these patterns in new relationships, even when we hope to see a change. But...
2020 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary: Workload of the Courts
January 1, 2021
In the 12-month period ending September 30, 2020, the number of cases filed in the Supreme Court fell compared to the 2018 Term, as did cases filed in the U.S. courts of appeals, bankruptcy courts, probation offices, and pretrial services system. New filings in district courts were nominally greater, but excluding filings connected to a single multidistrict litigation,they were also lower than the prior year. Filings generally decreased with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, leading...
January 1, 2021
In the 12-month period ending September 30, 2020, the number of cases filed in the Supreme Court fell compared to the 2018 Term, as did cases filed in the U.S. courts of appeals, bankruptcy courts, probation offices, and pretrial services system. New filings in district courts were nominally greater, but excluding filings connected to a single multidistrict litigation,they were also lower than the prior year. Filings generally decreased with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, leading...
Working Remotely for a Year Changes How We Work forever: 5 Predictions for 2021
December 31, 2020
Here are my predictions for 2021 Working remotely for a year changes how we work forever. Meeting in person remains important for advancing careers, critical meetings, and team cohesion, but the days of the 9-5 daily commute from Monday through Friday are gone for most knowledge workers. Two days per week in the office? Three days per week in the office? Working remotely for a quarter instead of taking 20 days vacation? I’m not sure where it will settle, but working patterns won’t return...
December 31, 2020
Here are my predictions for 2021 Working remotely for a year changes how we work forever. Meeting in person remains important for advancing careers, critical meetings, and team cohesion, but the days of the 9-5 daily commute from Monday through Friday are gone for most knowledge workers. Two days per week in the office? Three days per week in the office? Working remotely for a quarter instead of taking 20 days vacation? I’m not sure where it will settle, but working patterns won’t return...
Artificial Intelligence and Arbitration: The Computer as an Arbitrator — Are We There Yet?
December 30, 2020
Attorney Paul Bennett Marrow, member of the American Arbitration Association’s Commercial Panel and Domestic Arbitration instructor at New York Law School, Mansi Karol, Director of ADR Service for the Commercial Division at the American Arbitration Association in New York, and Steven Kuyan, Director of Entrepreneurship at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering and Managing Director of the NYU Tandon Future Labs, have published “Artificial...
December 30, 2020
Attorney Paul Bennett Marrow, member of the American Arbitration Association’s Commercial Panel and Domestic Arbitration instructor at New York Law School, Mansi Karol, Director of ADR Service for the Commercial Division at the American Arbitration Association in New York, and Steven Kuyan, Director of Entrepreneurship at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering and Managing Director of the NYU Tandon Future Labs, have published “Artificial...
