News from the Program on Alternative Dispute Resolution at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

This new section of the Mayhew-Hite Report is contributed by the Program on Alternative Dispute Resolution at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. To learn more about the Program please click here.

Professor Quigley Delivers Lecture in the West Bank on the Arab-Israeli Negotiations

Professor John Quigley, President’s Club Professor of Law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, spoke on Palestinian statehood at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank village of the same name on March 22, 2010.  In his lecture, Professor Quigley argued that Palestine is a sovereign state under international law, so any negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian leadership should be premised on that fact.

Even though the Israeli government might differ in its analysis of the status of Palestinian statehood, Quigley argues that when current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the leader of the conservative Likud Party in 1993, he made the same exact argument in front of Israel’s parliament, The Knesset, that Quigley is making now.

Quigley concedes that the debate over what it means to be a state resembles a quagmire, but asserts that the way the Palestinian leadership conducts business, negotiates with Israel, and is treated by the international community, let alone the centuries old historical record, all signal that there is, at the very least, implied recognition of Palestine as a state.

Professor Quigley is writing a book on this topic, entitled The Statehood of Palestine: International Law in the Middle East Conflict, due out in October, 2010.  He has delivered a similar lecture to the one he gave in Bir Zeit in Geneva in 2009 at a United Nations conference.

To read some more of Professor Quigley’s analysis on these matters, please go to http://www.lawrecord.com/files/35-rutgers-l-rec-1.pdf.

Among his other duties at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Professor Quigley regularly teaches a seminar on the Middle East Conflict.  The lecture in Bir Zeit was organized by Moritz graduate Mostafa Elostaz (2004), who is on staff at Bir Zeit University.

Ohio State University Moritz College of Law students competed in two ADR competitions during this academic year, the ABA Negotiation Competition and the ABA Representation in Mediation Competition

Ohio State University Moritz College of Law students competed in two ADR competitions during this academic year, the ABA Negotiation Competition and the ABA Representation in Mediation Competition.  Both competitions began with intramural rounds conducted at Moritz and ended with teams travelling to Detroit, MI, Orlando, FL, and Washington, D.C.
In February, Beth Uhrich (3L) and Catie Coleman (2L) competed in the National Finals of the ABA Negotiation Competition in Orlando, Florida on the weekend of February 5, 2010.  In a field of 24 teams from across the country, Beth and Catie advanced to the semifinal round before being eliminated.  Their preparation, effort, and performance represented the law school impressively and continued the tradition of excellence by Moritz teams competing in these kinds of competitions.
As in the regional competition, held at the Thomas J. Cooley School of Law outside of Detroit, the theme was employment law, but with a focus on binding arbitration agreements, a timely topic as Congress continues to deliberate on the passage of the Arbitration Fairness Act.
Having worked with each other through the intra-school Lawrence Negotiation Competition, and the regional competition in November, Beth and Catie utilized each other’s strengths and worked well with their opposing counsel throughout the competition.  Ultimately, the winning team came from the Boston University School of Law.
In the Representation in Mediation Competition, Jessica Kim (2L) and Beth Uhrich (3L) represented Ohio State at the 2010 regionals in Washington, D.C. at the Georgetown University Law Center on February 28 and March 1, 2010.  After two rounds—one a contract claim and the other a custody battle—in which the competitors had the opportunity to negotiate as both advocate and party, Jessica and Beth finished in third place, just missing an opportunity to advance to the national competition in San Francisco on April 7.

This competition began in late January for all Ohio State competitors with the Moritz ABA Representation in Mediation Competition. A total of 12 teams competed in that three-day event.

Professor Stulberg Chairs Task Force on Arbitration Fairness Act

 Professor Joseph B. Stulberg, John W. Bricker Professor of Law, with the able assistance of Moritz 2L Janice Kwon, served as chair of the Task Force for the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) that examined the proposed Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009.  Its 95-page study and recommendation was adopted unanimously by ACR in December 2009, a copy of which is available at www.acrnet.org.  The general conclusions identify important fairness concerns regarding selected practices in “mandatory arbitration” but oppose the proposed legislative changes that render inoperative pre-dispute arbitration clauses for consumer, employment and civil rights cases.

Professor Stulberg worked with distinguished scholars and practitioners from around the country, including Richard Fincher, Managing Partner of Workplace Resolutions LLC in Phoenix, Arizona; Timothy Germany, M.S., Commissioner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services of the U.S. Department of Labor in New York City; Marcia L. Greenbaum, a full-time arbitrator and mediator of labor and employment disputes with offices in Massachusetts; David B. Lipsky, Ph.D., Anne Evans Estabrook Professor of Dispute Resolution and the Director of the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University; Sharon Press, Associate Professor and Director of the Dispute Resolution Institute at Hamline University School of Law; James Rosenstein, a commercial mediator and public policy facilitator in private practice in Philadelphia.

When the task force began its work in 2009, members feared that the legislation would pass into law prior to the publication of their report.  However, the bill is still pending. Currently, the bill is still with the House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.  To track the legislation, please go to
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1020/show.

Professor Stulberg has been active on other fronts as well.  In February, 2010, Professor Stulberg was a panelist at the ABA mid-year conference discussing Debatable Dilemmas: Real World Mediation Ethics for Litigators and Mediators, and in March, 2010 he conducted an advanced mediator training program for lawyer/mediators selected to serve on the panel of the mediation program of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.  In late April, he will deliver the key-note address at the state-wide mediation conference sponsored by the University of Montana’s School of Law.  The title of his talk is:  The Promise – and Dangers –…Mediation.

At the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Professor Stulberg regularly teaches Legal Negotiations and the Multiparty Mediation Practicum.  Recently, he has also taught in the Civil Law Practicum.