|
WELCOME The Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution is pleased to bring you Volume 4, Issue 2 of The Mayhew-Hite Report on Dispute Resolution and the Courts. The main page of this issue can be accessed here. LEAD ARTICLE In Online Dispute Resolution: Some Context and a Report on Recent Developments, Daniel Rainey, Director of the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution Services at the National Mediation Board provides an overview of online dispute resolution (ODR), describes recent developments in the field, and makes some exciting predictions as to the future of ODR. In particular, Rainey discusses the innovative collaborative project between the National Mediation Board and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (courtesy of a National Science Foundation grant), which includes the research and development of technology to conduct mediations. The full-text of this article can be accessed here. ARTICLE SUMMARY Scott R. Peppet, Associate Professor at the University of Colorado School of Law, provides thought-provoking insight into the effectiveness of the current approach to contingent fee mediation and to mediation ethics generally in his 2003 article originally published in the Texas Law Review, Contractarian Economics and Mediation Ethics: The Case for Customizing Neutrality Through Contingent Fee Mediation. While focusing in depth on the lack of merit to an absolute rule against contingent fee mediation, Peppet argues for a contractarian approach to mediation ethics, where more standardized, yet flexible rules replace the current vague, immutable rules. A detailed summary of this law review article can be accessed here. CASE SUMMARY State v. Williams, 877 A.2d 1258 (N.J. 2005), is the first instance where a court has upheld the mediation privilege while applying the Uniform Mediation Act's (UMA's) analytical framework. The opinion gives an excellent summary of the importance of mediation communication confidentiality and provides some insight as to how the UMA will be applied in determining when a defendant has overcome the mediation communication privilege. A detailed summary of this case can be accessed here. STUDENT SPOTLIGHT In Power Imbalances in Mediation: Decreasing the Problem by Providing Access to Legal Information, Susan Perkerson Millradt evaluates the current approaches courts and mediators have taken to increase fairness in mediations where a significant power imbalance exists between the parties. The author concludes her article with a proposal to begin mediation sessions with a short video providing procedural and substantive legal information to pro se parties. Ms. Millradt is currently a J.D. Candidate at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. In 2005, she served as a volunteer mediator for the Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus, Ohio. Ms. Millradt also assisted Dr. Josh Stulberg to update Chapter 5 of his text, Mediation Theory and Practice . Most recently, she accepted an offer from McDonald-Hopkins Co., L.P.A. in Cleveland, Ohio to become an associate after she passes the bar. The full-text of this paper can be accessed here. EDITORIAL INFORMATION Editors: Advisor: Send Comments To: |