Alternative Dispute Resolution

Ex-Miss USA contestant told to pay Donald Trump $5M files malpractice suit against her former lawyer

Ordered to pay $5 million to Donald Trump earlier this year in a federal-court ruling upholding an award in a defamation and breach-of-contract arbitration she didn’t attend, an ex-participant in his Miss USA contest has now sued her former lawyer. Sheena Monnin is not alone in blaming attorney Richard Klineburger…

Nov 13, 2013 11:00 PM CST

Letters: The World of Words

THE WORLD OF WORDS Regarding Bryan Garner’s “It Really Does Pay,” September: If I had many hours to spend learning new words, I would choose to learn them in a foreign language instead. Time spent learning even trivial words in a foreign language can expand the worldwide audience of people…

Nov 1, 2013 9:10 AM CDT

UPL suit against LegalZoom must go to arbitration, Arkansas Supreme Court says

Customers who claim LegalZoom’s document-preparation services amount to the unauthorized practice of law won’t be able to take their case before a judge. The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that a mandatory arbitration clause in LegalZoom’s customer agreement must be enforced, the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct…

Oct 24, 2013 5:03 PM CDT

Strangers donate $14K to woman facing petty theft case over $3 in courthouse fountain coins

There seems to be a happy ending looming in the story of a struggling woman ticketed for allegedly taking less than $3 in change from a fountain near a Logan County, Ohio, courthouse. Since the incident was publicized and community members rallied to help Deirdre Romine, some $14,000 in donations…

Oct 23, 2013 11:00 PM CDT

3rd Circuit says Delaware Chancery Court’s secret arbitration program trials violated 1st Amendment

A divided federal appeals court Wednesday said a novel attempt by a highly regarded state court to offer an alternative to private arbitration of corporate matters violates the First Amendment because it involves secret trials. Upholding a lower court’s determination but applying a somewhat different line of reasoning to arrive…

Oct 23, 2013 7:05 PM CDT

Labor lawyer lands a labor of love—planting mediation firmly in India

Meditation in India? Om, big. Mediation in India? Um, not as big. That, however, is changing, thanks to Victor Schachter, a labor and employment partner at Fenwick & West in Mountain View, Calif. Schachter set up the first court-annexed mediation centers in India, and he plans to follow suit in…

Oct 1, 2013 8:00 AM CDT

MIA’s video rebuttal to NFL complaint: Sexy underage cheerleaders more offensive than middle finger

The rapper and singer M.I.A. is questioning the National Football League’s definition of offensive in a video rebuttal to its $1.5 million arbitration complaint over her middle-finger gesture during a Superbowl performance. The NFL never paid M.I.A. to perform at the February 2012 Superbowl, but the league claims the artist…

Sep 25, 2013 2:09 PM CDT

After his home is trashed, ex-NFL player seeks to ‘save’ 300 troubled teens

A former NFL offensive lineman watched online from Florida on Aug. 31 as several hundred partying teens who had broken into his upstate New York vacation home trashed it. Before Brian Holloway could call authorities, social media postings announced that police officers were already arriving at the scene, according to…

Sep 18, 2013 10:55 PM CDT

Is the integrative law movement the next ‘huge wave’ for the legal profession?

Sean Mason’s legal practice is all about love. Most lawyers wouldn’t associate estate planning or divorce mediation with tenderness and devotion, but Mason says “helping clients express love for the people who matter most in their lives” is the principle that guides his Santa Barbara, Calif., practice at the Mason…

Aug 1, 2013 7:30 AM CDT

Mediation ordered between NFL and players in head-injury dispute

A federal judge has ordered the National Football League and players into mediation to try to resolve litigation over head injuries. U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia appointed a retired judge, Layn Phillips, to mediate the case, which involves a claim from more than 4,000 football players who allege…

Jul 10, 2013 6:19 PM CDT

Ex-Miss USA contestant must pay $5M to Donald Trump; judge blames her ‘poor choice of counsel’

A former beauty contestant must pay $5 million to Donald Trump for defaming his Miss USA pageant, a federal judge in Manhattan has ruled. Upholding an arbitration award, which determined that the well-known millionaire’s company had suffered a seven-figure loss from a potential sponsor after she resigned as Miss Pennsylvania…

Jul 8, 2013 7:25 PM CDT

‘Too darn bad’? SCOTUS enforces contracts barring class arbitration, despite high litigation cost

Contract agreements that require arbitration and prohibit class-action claims are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act, even when the potential recovery is dwarfed by costs of individual arbitration, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-3 opinion. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion (PDF) that found the New…

Jun 20, 2013 4:04 PM CDT

Silicon Valley venture capital group wants to provide kinder, cheaper way to divorce

At age 9, Michelle Crosby was put on a witness stand and asked which of her divorcing parents she wanted to live with. Years later, similarly traumatized by her own divorce, Crosby was convinced she could devise a kinder, gentler process. The former family law attorney founded Wevorce, which seeks…

Jun 1, 2013 9:00 AM CDT

Alito and Roberts are the most pro-businesses justices since 1946, study finds

Not every decision by the Roberts court has favored businesses. But the U.S. Supreme Court is more pro-business in its rulings than any other since 1946, according to a new study. And two of its justices are also the most pro-business among 36 who served on the court since World…

May 7, 2013 11:05 AM CDT

ABA helps lawyers thrive by being at the forefront of new practice areas

Serving the growing number of elders who need legal help. Guiding companies through complicated efforts to combat cybercrime. Practicing law that focuses on collaboration. These are among expanding fields of law that offer opportunities to new law school graduates, those looking to return to law and seasoned practitioners in search…

May 1, 2013 9:50 AM CDT