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Can AI make video games more immersive? Some studios turn to AI-fueled NPCs for more interaction

Generative AI could also provide more opportunities for players to go off-script and create their own stories if designers can craft environments that feel more alive and can react to players’ choices in real-time.





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This chatbot pulls people away from conspiracy theories

A chatbot that can counter each person’s conspiratorial claim of choice with troves of information might be much more effective, the researchers thought.







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BVSD, SVVSD look to help teachers use AI while protecting student data

The Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley school districts are working to help teachers harness the power of AI, while keeping student data safe and teaching their students how to use the emerging technology ethically.




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One Tech Tip: Here’s what you need to do before and after your phone is stolen or lost

Phones hold so much of our digital lives — emails, social media and bank accounts, photos, chat messages and more — that if they ever get stolen or go missing, it can cause major disruption beyond just the loss of a device. In some places, phone thefts have surged […]




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Bitcoin neared $90,000 in a new record high. What to know about crypto’s post-election rally

As money continues to pour into crypto following Donald Trump’s victory last week, bitcoin has climbed to yet another record high.




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Denver judge lets road-rage murder prosecution continue despite paralegal’s comments

Nicholas Moodley’s attorneys argued the charges had to be dismissed after a paralegal who worked in the Denver DA’s office told one of Moodley’s friends that prosecutors believed they’d “got it wrong."




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Memorial service announced for Golden police officer killed in suspected DUI crash

Evan Dunn, the Golden police officer killed last week in a suspected DUI crash on Colorado 58 will be honored in a private memorial service on Wednesday.




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Stripped of qualified immunity, Colorado police officers turn to common law to seek protection from lawsuits

Civil rights attorneys say the fallback to common law is designed to keep law enforcement officers immune from civil claims despite the 2020 reforms.




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Adams County man gets 192 years of prison time for double Dollar Store shooting

Johnny McCaslin, 51, was sentenced to 192 years in prison last week for the 2021 Dollar General Store shooting in Adams County that sent a mother and her son to the hospital.




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Texas man who murdered Colorado girlfriend after attempted breakup sentenced to life in prison without parole

After a multi-week trial that started in October, an Adams County jury found Ricardo Perales-Cordero guilty of murder in less than two hours, court officials said.




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1 dead, 4 taken to hospital after unexplained odor at Denver home

Firefighters responded to a single-family home in Green Valley Ranch Tuesday morning after residents called 911 and reported difficulty breathing, a Denver Fire spokesman said.





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Preparing Campus Leaders for the Return to Campus this Fall

Our field has a great deal to offer campus leaders, who involuntarily joined us as dispute resolution practitioners as they dealt with campus conflicts related to the Middle East violence. Many campus leaders are now engaged in contingent planning for a variety of potential fall scenarios. The Divided Community Project will be grateful if you … Continue reading Preparing Campus Leaders for the Return to Campus this Fall




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Help Wanted: Director of Workplace Relations

From Ava Abramowitz: The DC Circuit of the US Court of Appeals is looking for a new director of workplace relations. The director provides confidential and impartial assistance to judges and court employees, including Federal Public Defender’s Office employees, on workplace conduct matters. The director works closely with the Employment Dispute Resolution Coordinators (EDRCs) to … Continue reading Help Wanted: Director of Workplace Relations




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NFL Arbitration–“A Secret, Rigged, Kangaroo Court”

I was delighted to join an amicus brief filed last week by Professor Imre Szalai in the Flores v NFL (and several teams) bemoaning the current state of the NFL arbitration system where Commissioner Roger Goodell has the final say.  You might recall that former coach Brian Flores has sued several NFL teams for racial … Continue reading NFL Arbitration–“A Secret, Rigged, Kangaroo Court”




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Registration for AALS DR WIP Conference Now Open!

From BFFOI Michael Colatrella (McGeorge): I am writing to remind you to register for the 17th Annual AALS Dispute Resolution Works-in Progress Conference at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento on Friday and Saturday, October 18th and 19th!  We will also host an optional welcome dinner on Thursday, October 17th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 … Continue reading Registration for AALS DR WIP Conference Now Open!




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Two Short Articles Proposing Courses Teaching Preparation and Advocacy in Dispute Resolution

It’s not breaking news that law school graduates generally have difficulty working with clients, don’t understand the “big picture” of client matters, and aren’t well trained in negotiation. The problem for law students and law schools is exacerbated by the transition to the NextGen bar exam and a movement in various states to use alternative … Continue reading Two Short Articles Proposing Courses Teaching Preparation and Advocacy in Dispute Resolution




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Ava Abramowitz on Making Words Matter

Many of us know Ava Abramowitz, a retired Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington. She recently gave a presentation at the Garibaldi Inn of Court, “Making Words Matter.”  The communication behaviors discussed in her presentation can give mediators, lawyers, disputants and litigants more tools to communicate. and in the process, help them develop additional … Continue reading Ava Abramowitz on Making Words Matter




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Modern Mediation Practice in American Legal Cases

I recently published It’s Time to Make Important Upgrades to Our Mediation Curriculum, which notes significant changes in American mediation practice in the past five decades and suggests that law school faculty upgrade our mediation instruction accordingly. Modern Mediation Practice in American Legal Cases is a two-page summary of that article, which was published in … Continue reading Modern Mediation Practice in American Legal Cases




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Winner of AALS Section’s Best Scholarly Article Award for 2023

Donna Shestowsky (UC Davis) recently announced the winner of this year’s AALS Section on ADR “best scholarly article” award. That award goes to Inga Laurent, An Absence of Accountability, 54 (1) Seton Hall Law Review 137-200 (2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4252910 She also noted that the author has been invited to present the winning article at … Continue reading Winner of AALS Section’s Best Scholarly Article Award for 2023




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Latest Articles in Journal of Dispute Resolution

The Journal of Dispute Resolution recently released Issue 2 of Volume 2024.   Here’s a list of the articles in this issue.  Click here to access them.   Take a look. Alternative Dispute Resolution in Agency Administrative Programs by Kristen Blankley, Kathleen Claussen, and Judith Starr Arbitration and the Mandatory Law Problem: A Mixed Mode ADR Approach … Continue reading Latest Articles in Journal of Dispute Resolution




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Disney+ to Disney World “Infinite” Arbitration Clause

Some of you may have seen the news articles (e.g., here and here) in the past day or so reporting on a motion to compel arbitration brought by Disney lawyers in a Florida state court wrongful death case. The widow of a woman who suffered a fatal allergic reaction at a Disney World restaurant is … Continue reading Disney+ to Disney World “Infinite” Arbitration Clause




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American Arbitration Association, Suffolk Law and ODR.com Launch Online Dispute Resolution Innovation Clinic

Partnership aims to transform access to family law dispute resolution for underserved communities The American Arbitration Association and Suffolk University Law School are launching a pioneering Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Innovation Clinic. This initiative combines Suffolk Law’s expertise in legal technology and clinical education with the AAA’s leadership in alternative dispute resolution innovation, technology, and … Continue reading American Arbitration Association, Suffolk Law and ODR.com Launch Online Dispute Resolution Innovation Clinic




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Come to Missouri’s 40th Anniversary Symposium on October 25

The University of Missouri’s Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution will hold its 40th anniversary symposium on Friday, October 25. It’s entitled, “Dispute Resolution at Forty:  Looking Back, Looking Forward,” and features an indisputably all-star cast.  Here’s the lineup.  The starred characters are Mizzou student and/or faculty alumni. Welcome:  Paul J. Litton Remarks:  Ilhyung … Continue reading Come to Missouri’s 40th Anniversary Symposium on October 25




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The Negotiation Journal’s Rebirth

Regular readers will remember that a little over a year ago Carrie Menkel-Meadow (UC-Irvine) warned us that the Negotiation Journal was in crisis, and its demise was a real possibility.  Today she announced that it survived and has come out on the other side.  It is now an open access journal hosted by MIT and … Continue reading The Negotiation Journal’s Rebirth




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Are You in Favor of Self-Determination in Mediation?

What about Mom and apple pie?  For or against? Most people take for granted that all these things are indisputably good (at least in theory) though we usually don’t think much about why. Not so with Andrew Mamo.  He recently published Unsettling the Self:  Rethinking Self-Determination in Mediation, which deeply analyzes the meaning of self-determination. … Continue reading Are You in Favor of Self-Determination in Mediation?




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Journal of Dispute Resolution Writing Competition – September 6 Deadline

From my colleague, Rachel Wechsler: The Journal of Dispute Resolution is seeking articles related to labor and employment dispute resolution for its 2024 Writing Competition. The winners will be published in the Winter 2025 Issue of the Journal of Dispute Resolution. Writers should send submissions to umclawjournal@umsystem.edu with the subject line “2024 Writing Competition.” The … Continue reading Journal of Dispute Resolution Writing Competition – September 6 Deadline



  • General
  • Employment Dispute Resolution
  • For Teachers and Students
  • Labor Dispute Resolution

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Attorneys, Mediators, and Self-Determination

Posting my short article, The Important Role of Attorneys in Promoting Parties’ Self-Determination in Mediation, on the NYC-DR listserv prompted several reactions. This post highlights and elaborates some points in my article. Why Law School Faculty Should Increase Instruction in Mediation Representation I’m a retired law professor who mediated and taught mediation for years.  The … Continue reading Attorneys, Mediators, and Self-Determination




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Georgetown’s Ariel Eckblad to Deliver Moritz’s 2024 Lawrence Lecture

Ohio State’s Program on Dispute Resolution is thrilled to invite you to the 2024 Lawrence Lecture on Dispute Resolution featuring Georgetown Law Professor Ariel Eckblad!  Register here: https://go.osu.edu/eckblad. Scheduled for Tuesday September 17 (beginning at 12:10 eastern), Professor Eckblad will present “The Water We Swim In: Negotiating Power and Possibility”. Here is a brief description: … Continue reading Georgetown’s Ariel Eckblad to Deliver Moritz’s 2024 Lawrence Lecture




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Shared Values and Principles in Mediation

For a forthcoming article about law school mediation courses, I developed a list of key values and principles that I think people in our field generally share.  They are about the roles of practitioners – including both mediators and attorneys – when working with clients in mediation.  Faculty can advocate them in any mediation course … Continue reading Shared Values and Principles in Mediation




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New Mediation Syllabi on DRLE Website

There are many new mediation syllabi on the DRLE website. There now are two pages for these syllabi.  One page is for courses focused on the perspective of neutrals and the other focused on the perspective of representatives in mediation.  Both webpages have separate sections for simulation and clinical courses. The webpages include a lot … Continue reading New Mediation Syllabi on DRLE Website




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Theory and Practice of Mediation Representation

As we know, American attorneys regularly represent clients in mediation.  There’s a ton of theory about mediation generally but much less about mediation representation. I just posted an article, Theory and Practice of Mediation Representation, which presents a theoretical analysis based on Real Practice System Theory.  The following graphic provides an overview, which the article … Continue reading Theory and Practice of Mediation Representation




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Is 90% Too Much?

10%. That percentage – or less – is the rough proportion of the mediation curriculum devoted to mediation representation in US law schools, including about: 6% of mediation clinic courses 9% of mediation simulation courses 3-9% of the coverage in some mediation textbooks 7% of the coverage in many mediation courses Is it too much … Continue reading Is 90% Too Much?




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New Edition of Michael Lang’s Book on Reflective Practice

Pioneering family mediator Michael Lang just released the second edition of his book, The Guide to Reflective Practice in Conflict Resolution.  He provided an account of his development as a mediator as one of the Ten Real Mediation Systems.  He is the co-director of the Reflective Practice Institute International. Michael’s book builds on Donald Schön’s … Continue reading New Edition of Michael Lang’s Book on Reflective Practice




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If You Will Teach Mediation (or Other DR Course) Next Year, Read This

At this year’s AALS ADR Section WIP Conference, I presented data showing that more than 90% of law school mediation courses and more than 90% of the coverage in popular mediation texts focus on the mediator’s role.  I asked people what they think the emphasis generally should be in generic mediation courses, and here are … Continue reading If You Will Teach Mediation (or Other DR Course) Next Year, Read This




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Do the History



Which books contain "the message"? These ones do.




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Vintage Hip Hop



Check out these old school photos.




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Hip Hop History Comes to Life



Explore the history of hip hop.





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#WearTheMessage: Shoes Embraced by Hip Hop



The connection between hip hop and sneakers is obvious