There’s a Storm Front Coming – Is the Law Ready?

August 28, 2011

In the words of Billy Joel, “There’s a Storm Front Coming.” Actually, it’s already here. For many hours it’s been raining hard in the Northeastern United States. So far, here in northwest Vermont, we have seen no real wind, but the weather reports tell us high winds are on the way. All weekend, we’ve all [...]

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More on the ABA House of Delegates Rejection of the Uniform Collaborative Law Rules and Act

August 10, 2011

A.J. Grossman’s Comment on my last post, “ABA House of Delegates Rejects Uniform Collaborative Law Rules and Act, ” makes good points, and asks good questions.  Here is his comment, and my reply: “My firm practices collaborative law and we are disappointed at this result, but not too surprised. Our attorneys also hold LL.M. degress [...]

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ABA House of Delegates Rejects Uniform Collaborative Law Rules and Act

August 8, 2011

I am disappointed to report that today, the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates rejected Resolution 110B, which would have added ABA approval to the Uniform Collaborative Law Rules and Act. The vote was 294 No and 158 Yes. The House cut off debate on the subject after hearing fewer than 10 speakers. Opponents, led [...]

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Once Again, The Uniform Collaborative Law Rules and Act Provokes Controversy in the ABA House of Delegates

July 28, 2011

Traffic on the ABA House of Delegates Listserve indicates that, one again, the Uniform Collaborative Law Rules and Act may well prove to be the hot issue before the House of Delegates at the ABA’s Annual Meeting in Toronto. The House of Delegates is scheduled to meet August 8 and 9. As he did before, Larry Fox [...]

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Uniform Law Commission’s Adjourns its 120th Annual Meeting in Vail, Colorado

July 25, 2011

I wrote about the personal side of Conference membership in my July 10, 2011 post: “The Personal Side of Legislation, at Least as the Uniform Laws Commission Does It.” Tempting as it is to write more about the personal side of Commission membership (particularly about the seven memorial speeches marking the passing of former colleagues), [...]

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Why Mediation is a Learned Profession

July 17, 2011

I belong to a LinkedIn Group, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Professionals. Today, I read a question there that caused me to reformulate some old thinking in a new way. Here is the question, from ADR Group Member and United Kingdom Mediator Paul Whittle: “Is evaluative mediation just another version of an inherent injustice process whereby [...]

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The Personal Side of Legislation, at Least as the Uniform Laws Commission Does It

July 10, 2011

This week I am at the 120th Annual Meeting of the Uniform Laws Commission in Vail, Colorado. This is the 18th consecutive annual meeting of the Commission (formally known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws) that my wife and I have attended. I don’t believe that when I attended my first [...]

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New York’s Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to Criminal Defense Leaders: We must Provide Access to Justice or We may as well Shut Down the Courthouses!

June 21, 2011

The Honorable Jonathan Lippman, Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, (New York state’s highest Court) addressed an audience of some 70 invited criminal defense lawyers and legal scholars at the Cardozo Law School in New York on Tuesday. The conference, entitled “Padilla and the Future of the Defense Function,” was a day [...]

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Reasons for Optimism on Collateral Consequence Reform

June 5, 2011

In my May 19 post, “The Bad News: No Enactments of the Uniform Collateral Consequences Act this Year,” I promised to explain why there is real reason to feel optimistic about the prospects for reform of the law of collateral consequences. At least three circumstances suggest that we are on the path to a more [...]

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The Bad News: No Enactments of the Uniform Collateral Consequences Act this Year

May 19, 2011

My last post covered the good news on collateral consequences law reform: support for the idea from our nation’s chief law enforcement offer, United States Attorney General Eric Holder. I promised the bad news this time and hope for the future in my third post of this series. So it’s time for the bitter pill, [...]

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