Association of American Law Schools
2003 Annual Meeting
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, January 2 - Sunday, January 5, 2003


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Friday, January 3, 2003
8:45 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Annual Meeting Workshop on Dispute Resolution:
Raising the Bar and Enlarging the Canon


Concurrent Session: Teaching the Law in ADR Courses




Jonathan Hyman, Rutgers University, Newark
Kimberlee Kovach, The University of Texas
Jacqueline Nolan-Haley, Fordham University

 

  1. What is the meaning of "law" in the study of alternative dispute resolution?

    1. Positive Law
      1. Case law developments in the various ADR processes

      2. Federal and state rules governing the use of ADR processes

      3. Court Rules governing the use of ADR processes

    2. Natural Law and the Meaning of Justice in ADR
      1. Does justice have a place in ADR?

      2. Why does this question matter?

      3. What does justice mean in an ADR context?
        1. Should mediated agreements be equivalent to results that could be obtained in court?

        2. Who should/does make justice decisions in ADR: lawyers for the parties, clients, judges or neutrals?

  2. Why teach law in an ADR course?

    1. What are the benefits of integrating law and process in an ADR course?

    2. What are the challenges in engaging in this approach?

  3. Teaching the "law" in ADR courses

    1. Negotiation
        It's never too late to think about the law from those other courses.

      1. The law in the negotiation: have students reason about legal claims and defenses to develop aspirations and set reservation values (for dispute-resolution negotiation), articulate legal doctrines to guide contract terms (for transactional negotiation), and consider their use of legal argument in the negotiation.

      2. The law about the negotiation: have students use contract and tort law of misrepresentation and fraud to understand the limits of concealment and misdirection in negotiation. (This will take care of much of what is commonly seen as the key ethical problem in negotiation -"lying" - and will permit attention to other ethical issues, such as avoiding unnecessary harm to others and the ethical implications of problem-solving negotiation.)

      3. Pedagogy: Teaching Methodologies
        1. Writing (or modifying)simulated negotiation problems with substantive legal issues in mind.

        2. Reserving time to discuss legal issues as part of the reflective analysis of simulations.

        3. Selecting ways for students to understand and use substantive law: Lecture? Hornbooks, internet and practice guides? Restatements? Casebooks? Independent student research?

    2. Mediation

      As a preliminary inquiry, students should consider the relevance of traditional law frameworks in responding to the law of mediation and the law in mediation. Specific consideration is given to contracts and torts law.

      1. Black letter law that cannot be ignored in mediation-legal issues related to confidentiality, enforceability, and professional responsibility concerns related to the neutral.

      2. What is the role of law in mediation?

      3. Pedagogy: Teaching Methodologies

      4. Example
        1. Preliminary reading assignment from syllabus on specific legal topic, e.g., enforceability of the agreement reached in mediation

        2. Related simulation problem

        3. Related drafting Problem

        4. De-Brief
          Identify legal issues in the problem, i.e. informed consent
          Interactive discussion about the law that applies to these issues

        5. Mini lecture on the specific topic

    3. Arbitration
      1. Statutory and case law surrounding use of arbitration

      2. Areas of emphasis

        1. Primary focus on contractual issues

        2. Difficulties of coverage/balance

      3. Pedagogy: Teaching Methodologies
        1. Socratic

        2. Lectures

        3. Groups/class discussion

        4. Simulation

      4. Example
        1. Mock Arbitration

        2. Lecture/discussion on issues of enforcement, modification and lack of appeal of awards

        3. Draft and argument of motion to set aside or enforce

        4. Ruling and feedback

      5. Evaluation of Learning i.e. grading options

 


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