What's Happening [02.04.14]

"What's Happening?" Blog is a weekly round up of the all the ADR news, jobs, events and more. Check it out each week and view past news [HERE]

Veteran Services & Mediation: "When Worlds Collide"

...When Worlds Collide

By Lynne Kinnucan

“The past is never dead. It's not even past.”

William Faulkner

The nightly news runs films of returning veterans, happy families, strangers holding up signs of gratitude and respect. Yet too many never make it back at all, and of those who do - the ones who suffer no memorial but their own - re-entry is often more of a collision than a homecoming. The shell-shocked father in a shouting match with his wife as the family begins to crumble. The commanding officer who knows that obedience is the first law of survival and goes into shock when a workplace employee says no.

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Mediation Mandatory? Not Everyone Thinks It's A Good Idea

(Wall Street Journal Law Blog/Jacob Gershman) New York State’s court system is poised to launch a pilot program in Manhattan Supreme Court that would require that every fifth case assigned to judges in its commercial division go to mediation.

The plan — first floated by a judicial task force in 2012 – could help lighten the caseload of a court system under tough budgetary pressure. The Manhattan Supreme Court carries a particularly heavy docket, especially within its commercial division.

...Jeff Kichaven, a Los Angeles-based mediator who handles cases in New York and other states, said the rule would make litigation more expensive, and urged the court office to scrap the whole idea.

Read more [HERE].

How mediation has put Detroit bankruptcy on the road to resolution

(Detroit Free Press)- When Detroit filed for bankruptcy, the case was expected to mirror others around the country: contentious with several years of pitched courtroom battles ahead.

But in Detroit, two powerful federal judges have refused drawn-out battles in favor of quick rulings and aggressive mediation that’s speeding the process along.

Read more [HERE].

Ontario's mandatory mediation program curtails party choice

Columbia ADR Faculty Gives Overview of Organizational Ombuds Field

Tom A. Kosakowski- Earlier this month, Beth Fisher-Yoshida, interviewed John Zinsser on WKCR in New York. The interview was part of with the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity. Zinsser is an instructor at the negotiation and conflict resolution masters program at Columbia University.

Try it on for Size

The Olive Branch Blog- Sometimes the future seems so far away ... especially when you have to make a decision today that will affect you for a long time to come.