Featured Articles

From the Chair

This issue of the Dispute Resolution Magazine continues the theme of civility in public discourse, which is the theme for the Section of Dispute Resolution in this bar year. Who better than the Dispute Resolution Section and the dispute resolvers who are members of the Section to promote this principle?

Lawyers & Civil Public Discourse: A Process Map

Beyond advice and counsel, we use negotiation both to help them form contracts and to resolve disputes. In addition to litigation, we represent clients in mediation and arbitration.

Navigating the Range of Public Engagement Approaches

Dozens of effective public engagement techniques have been developed over the last decade or two that enable citizens to have authentic, civil, productive public discussions across partisan divides—even on highly contentious issues.

Public Policy Mediation

Ironically, there is no consensus on the definition of public policy mediation among those in the field. Nonetheless, it has been successfully applied to a great variety of policy challenges and belongs in the array of processes that promise to enhance public discourse.

This We Can Do

The ABA has urged its members “to set a high standard for civil discourse as an example for others,” in a response to the current state of our nation’s public life.

Fostering Civility in Public Discourse

Civility is more important today than ever before for our profession to show the way to our nation and how we can lead a return to civility.

How to Combat Incivility: A Policy Agenda for Civic Renewal

Civil society is in grave condition, measured not by the proportion of talk that is “civil,” for which no statistics exist, but by the sheer rate of participation in voluntary organizations that involve talk.

Mediator’s Proposals: Let Me Count the Ways

In the course of discussing this subject with colleagues, it has been fascinating to discover the myriad ways in which mediators actually “do” mediator’s proposals. This article explores some of these ways.

What to Do When a Party Refuses to Pay Its Share of Arbitration Costs

Sometimes, one of the parties is unable or unwilling to pay its share of the arbitration fees and expenses. This article explores the options available to an arbitrator in those circumstances.

New Member Resources

Through a joint project of the Section’s Mediation Committee and the Suffolk Law Center for Representation in Dispute Resolution, we proudly bring you the exciting Mediation Video Center, a video resource for mediation and negotiation.

ADR Cases

The Respondents, in 2008, filed a class-action complaint against CompuCredit alleging CROA violations, including misleading representation that the card could be used to rebuild poor credit and the opening fees that reduced the credit limit.

The Lighter Side

“I know we went out looking for a milk stand, but let’s start the compromising process by settling for lemonade.” - A. Alan Cade

Section News

The D’Alemberte-Raven Award recognizes leaders in the dispute resolution community who have contributed significantly to the field by developing new or innovative programs, improvements in service and efficiency, research and writings in the area of dispute resolution or continuing education programs.