Dispute Resolution: Beyond the Adversary Model [With CDROM]

To litigate, negotiate, mediate, or arbitrate? That is the question. Unfortunately, unless you take advantage of a clinical program, law school does a pretty pathetic job of preparing you to litigate after graduation. However, whereas some attempt is actually made to teach law students something about litigation (see, e.g., courses in Civil Procedure, Evidence, and Legal Research and Writing), a minority of students receive exposure to alternative dispute resolution principles, which are increasing in popularity at courthouses nationwide. This book won't make you a great negotiator, mediator, or arbitrator anymore than reading a baseball rulebook will make you a great umpire. However, if you take the information and techniques offered in this book and actually put them to use in hypothetical exercises, you'll be well on your way to acquiring skills that are every bit as practical and valuable as knowing how to deliver an opening statement or how to write a fantastic brief. (Trust me, they can even help you save a grand or two the next time you buy a car.) Simply put, the book provides a nice survey of alternative dispute resolution concepts. Aside from the chapter that addresses arbitration law, you won't feel like you're reading an average law school casebook (for my money's worth, that's a good thing). Instead, Menkel-Meadow, Love, Schneider, and Sternlight do a nice job of explaining the basic ADR processes, i.e. negotiation, mediation, and arbitration, through law review articles, charts, diagrams, and even an occasional cartoon. The authors then offer insights about multiparty and international negotiating techniques, highlighting the importance of designing good processes. Are there things I'd change if I were one of the authors? Sure. At times, some of the techniques seem like they'd be less successful if "opponents" negotiate in an old-school manner, i.e. in a way that doesn't embrace, but actually rejects the problem-solving approach advocated by the authors. (This also is a problem in GETTING TO YES.) Thus, better techniques on how to combat such opponents would be nice. Overall, however, I was quite surprised about just how much I actually learned from the book, especially from the negotiating and multiparty dispute resolution chapters.

After having to research different ADR textbooks, I found that this book gave a great balance of "soft" skills and the law that isn't found in the rest of the books. For those law students who are used to reading incredibly case-heavy texts, this book takes a bit getting used to and seems like there isn't much to it. In fact, the skills taught in the law review articles are what can make the difference between an effective and ineffective mediator.