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When Negotiating, You May Need to Tighten Up or Hang Loose
October 2, 2014
Studies of cultures in different countries have concluded that cultural differences often arise from different ecological and historical conditions. Tight countries have endured a wide range of ecological and historical threats with loose countries having gone through fewer. The strong norms in tight nations help humans coordinate their social action in the face of numerous survival threats. Loose nations are more able to ”afford” more latitude and permissiveness because they face far fewer...
October 2, 2014
Studies of cultures in different countries have concluded that cultural differences often arise from different ecological and historical conditions. Tight countries have endured a wide range of ecological and historical threats with loose countries having gone through fewer. The strong norms in tight nations help humans coordinate their social action in the face of numerous survival threats. Loose nations are more able to ”afford” more latitude and permissiveness because they face far fewer...
Attorney Fees for In-house Counsel’s Litigation Work
October 2, 2014
Massachusetts has joined an increasing number of states that allow trial courts to award attorney fees to in-house counsel for work on litigation. Peter Jarvis, a partner in the Portland, Ore., office of Holland & Knight, coauthored an article on the May ruling by the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. “It just makes sense,” Jarvis told CorpCounsel.com. “And I think most corporations are certainly going to be comfortable with this.” The case is the first time a Massachusetts court has ruled...
October 2, 2014
Massachusetts has joined an increasing number of states that allow trial courts to award attorney fees to in-house counsel for work on litigation. Peter Jarvis, a partner in the Portland, Ore., office of Holland & Knight, coauthored an article on the May ruling by the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. “It just makes sense,” Jarvis told CorpCounsel.com. “And I think most corporations are certainly going to be comfortable with this.” The case is the first time a Massachusetts court has ruled...
Curiosity Is as Important as Intelligence
October 1, 2014
There seems to be wide support for the idea that we are living in an “age of complexity”, which implies that the world has never been more intricate. This idea is based on the rapid pace of technological changes, and the vast amount of information that we are generating (the two are related). Yet consider that philosophers like Leibniz (17th century) and Diderot (18th century) were already complaining about information overload. The “horrible mass of books” they referred to may have represented...
October 1, 2014
There seems to be wide support for the idea that we are living in an “age of complexity”, which implies that the world has never been more intricate. This idea is based on the rapid pace of technological changes, and the vast amount of information that we are generating (the two are related). Yet consider that philosophers like Leibniz (17th century) and Diderot (18th century) were already complaining about information overload. The “horrible mass of books” they referred to may have represented...
How Do You Talk About That Weasel?
October 1, 2014
According to new research, the words you use when describing an event can have a dramatic impact on how the actions of a person are perceived. When surveying jury-eligible adults, investigators varied animalistic descriptions of a violent crime and examined its effect on the severity of the punishment for the act. Compared with non-animalistic descriptions, animalistic descriptions resulted in significantly harsher punishment for the perpetrator due to an increase in perceived risk of recidivism.
October 1, 2014
According to new research, the words you use when describing an event can have a dramatic impact on how the actions of a person are perceived. When surveying jury-eligible adults, investigators varied animalistic descriptions of a violent crime and examined its effect on the severity of the punishment for the act. Compared with non-animalistic descriptions, animalistic descriptions resulted in significantly harsher punishment for the perpetrator due to an increase in perceived risk of recidivism.
How Improving Decision-Making and Mindfulness Can Improve Legal Ethics and Professionalism
October 1, 2014
Lawyers who behave unethically and unprofessionally do so for various reasons, ranging from intention to carelessness. Lawyer misconduct can also result from decision-making flaws. Psychologist Chip Heath and his brother Dan Heath, in their best-selling book, Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions in Life and Work, suggest a process to improve people’s decision-making. They introduce the acronym WRAP as the mnemonic for these decision-making heuristics: (1) Widen your options, (2) Reality-test...
October 1, 2014
Lawyers who behave unethically and unprofessionally do so for various reasons, ranging from intention to carelessness. Lawyer misconduct can also result from decision-making flaws. Psychologist Chip Heath and his brother Dan Heath, in their best-selling book, Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions in Life and Work, suggest a process to improve people’s decision-making. They introduce the acronym WRAP as the mnemonic for these decision-making heuristics: (1) Widen your options, (2) Reality-test...
Court Can’t Hear Motion to Vacate Award That Denied Withdrawl of Arbitration Claim
October 1, 2014
A federal district court has dismissed a motion to vacate an arbitration decision denying a party’s request to unilaterally withdraw a claim that was subject to a pending arbitration. Finding the arbitration decision was not final, and did not fall within any exception to the finality requirement, the court held it lacked jurisdiction to consider the motion to vacate it. The court also rejected application of the collateral order doctrine which, if applicable, would justify the court’s jurisdiction...
October 1, 2014
A federal district court has dismissed a motion to vacate an arbitration decision denying a party’s request to unilaterally withdraw a claim that was subject to a pending arbitration. Finding the arbitration decision was not final, and did not fall within any exception to the finality requirement, the court held it lacked jurisdiction to consider the motion to vacate it. The court also rejected application of the collateral order doctrine which, if applicable, would justify the court’s jurisdiction...
Cynicism in Negotiation: When Communication Increases Buyers’ Skepticism
October 1, 2014
This paper investigates whether certain contexts can lead buyers to be too skeptical and miss beneficial opportunities. We focus on a seller-buyer interaction in which the buyer has limited knowledge about the seller’s offer. The offer is abstracted as two cards, drawn randomly from a deck of 100 cards that are marked consecutively from 1-100. The buyer is presented with the lower card (and knows that she sees the lower card) and must decide whether to buy the cards at a price of 100. The product’s...
October 1, 2014
This paper investigates whether certain contexts can lead buyers to be too skeptical and miss beneficial opportunities. We focus on a seller-buyer interaction in which the buyer has limited knowledge about the seller’s offer. The offer is abstracted as two cards, drawn randomly from a deck of 100 cards that are marked consecutively from 1-100. The buyer is presented with the lower card (and knows that she sees the lower card) and must decide whether to buy the cards at a price of 100. The product’s...
Online Dispute Resolution Services: A Selected Number of Case Studies
September 30, 2014
This paper considers a number of ODR case studies employed to settle disputes arising from e-commerce and offline. After...
September 30, 2014
This paper considers a number of ODR case studies employed to settle disputes arising from e-commerce and offline. After...
Arbitration Agreement Entered into during Pendency of FLSA Claim Ruled Enforceable
September 30, 2014
The named plaintiffs in Stevenson v. The Great American Dream, Inc. are former employees of Pin Ups Nightclub. They brought suit claiming entitlement to minimum wage and overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). They sought class certification in December 2012, which was granted in August 2013. Kwanza Edwards attempted to join the class on October 2013. Unfortunately for her, she had signed an arbitration agreement in February 2013. On July 15, 2014, the District Court...
September 30, 2014
The named plaintiffs in Stevenson v. The Great American Dream, Inc. are former employees of Pin Ups Nightclub. They brought suit claiming entitlement to minimum wage and overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). They sought class certification in December 2012, which was granted in August 2013. Kwanza Edwards attempted to join the class on October 2013. Unfortunately for her, she had signed an arbitration agreement in February 2013. On July 15, 2014, the District Court...
Negotiating Games — Using Anger in Mediation, A Researched Analysis
September 30, 2014
In mediation, it is often common for parties to use a anger or emotions strategically. In fact, many people will intentionally have an emotional outburst in an attempt to try to strategically alter the other side’s position. Some may say that using such emotions is a long time strategy going back towards ancient days. But can exaggerating emotions backfire? Researchers Eduardo B. Andrade and Teck-Hua Ho (University of California, Berkeley) evaluated whether exaggerated sense of anger or “emotion...
September 30, 2014
In mediation, it is often common for parties to use a anger or emotions strategically. In fact, many people will intentionally have an emotional outburst in an attempt to try to strategically alter the other side’s position. Some may say that using such emotions is a long time strategy going back towards ancient days. But can exaggerating emotions backfire? Researchers Eduardo B. Andrade and Teck-Hua Ho (University of California, Berkeley) evaluated whether exaggerated sense of anger or “emotion...
