Chapter 3 – Alternative Dispute Resolution
Chapter 3 Exercises and References
End of Chapter Exercises
- What are the benefits of negotiation as a dispute-resolution method? What are the drawbacks?
- How can parties that have unequal bargaining power negotiate meaningfully, without one party taking advantage of the other? Have you ever negotiated with someone who had more bargaining power than you? What were your strategies during the negotiation? Did you obtain your goal by the conclusion of the negotiation?
- Identify a situation in which you would choose mediation as your preferred method of dispute resolution. Why is mediation the best method in this situation? What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of mediation in this situation?
- Should mediators be required to be licensed, like attorneys or physicians, before practicing? Why or why not?
- Bank of America announced that it would no longer require mandatory arbitration in disputes arising between it and consumer credit card account holders. Review the story here: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE57D03E20090814. What are the benefits and drawbacks to Bank of America’s credit card account customers with respect to this change?
- In what contexts have you entered into an arbitration agreement (e.g., home purchase, credit card agreement, cell phone agreement)? Write a short essay discussing the implications of entering into that agreement.
- Locate two “ethics hotline” programs from an online search. Compare these programs. What are the benefits and drawbacks to each?
References
9 U.S.C. §1 et seq.
Circuit City Stores, Inc., v. Adams, 532 U.S. 105 (2001).
Citizens Bank v. Alafabco, Inc., 539 U.S. 52 (2003).
Exxon Shipping Co. v. Exxon Seamen’s Union, 11 F.3d 1189 (3d Cir. 1993)
Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp., 500 U.S. 20 (1991).
Jones v. Halliburton Co., 583 F.3d 228 (5th Cir. 2009).
Juan A. Lozano, “Woman Awarded $3M in Assault Claim against KBR,” AP News, November 19, 2009
Lozano v. AT & T Wireless, 504 F.3d 718 (9th Cir. 2007).
Margaret L. Moses, Statutory Misconstruction: How the Supreme Court Created a Federal Arbitration Law Never Enacted by Congress, 34 Fla. St. U.L. Rev. 99 (2006).
New Jersey Court Rule 4:21A
ORS 36.405.
Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton, Getting to Yes (New York: Penguin Books, 1991), 100.
Southland Corp. v. Keating, 465 U.S. 1 (1984).
Uniform Arbitration Act, RCW 7.04.
Washington State Court Rules of Procedure, Superior Court Mandatory Arbitration Rules 7.3.
