Texas A&M University School of Law is proud of the accomplishments its Aggie Dispute Resolution team has achieved:
FACULTY AND STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS
Professor Cynthia Alkon recently completed two years as Associate Dean at Texas A&M Law,
Professor Guillermo Garcia published several dispute resolution-related articles and book chapters in the last year. The Blurring of the Public/Private Distinction or the Collapse of a Category? The Story of Investment Arbitration, in the Nevada Law Journal, responds to the
Several of Professor Michael Z. Green’s recent articles focus on the intersection of race and dispute resolution. He organized a symposium at Dedman School of Law of Southern
In 2018, Professor Carol Pauli served as a faculty member at the Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media. The Poynter Institute is a leading journalism training center and
Professor Peter Reilly is Chair-Elect of the ADR Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), and the ADR Section has been selected as this year’s AALS Section of Year. In
Professor Welsh became Director of the Aggie Dispute Resolution Program in September, 2017. Completing her service to the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution as Immediate Past
Thomas Stipanowich, Hagler Institute Faculty Fellow
In Fall 2018, Professor Thomas Stipanowich joined Texas A&M Law and the College of
The Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University provides a catalyst to enrich the intellectual climate and educational experiences at Texas A&M. It is a mechanism for attracting world-class talent to the University and is driven by nominations of National Academy and Nobel-prize caliber researchers that align with existing strengths and ambitions of the University. Each year the Hagler Institute invites a number of nationally and internationally prominent Faculty Fellows to pursue advanced study at the Hagler Institute in collaboration with faculty and student scholars at Texas A&M. The goal is to provide a stellar environment for research and scholarship, providing the Faculty Fellows with freedom to pursue their own research interests as well as collaborate in disciplinary and multidisciplinary research.
Professor Stipanowich joins several other Hagler Institute Faculty Fellows whose primary affiliation has been with Texas A&M Law, including Richard Epstein (New York University), Tom Ginsburg (University of Chicago) and Joseph Singer (Harvard). More information is available here.
Kay Elliott, TMCA Outstanding Credentialed Mediator Award
Texas A&M Law hosted the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association’s 13th annual symposium, entitled “Trailblazers in Mediation: Exploring New Pathways.” During the
ABA Competitions Championships
Texas A&M Law earned a top 10 finish in the inaugural ABA Competitions Championships for its teams’ achievements and participation in the ABA’s arbitration, negotiation, client counseling, and national appellate advocacy competitions. Texas A&M law students Kaitlyn
CURRICULUM HIGHLIGHTS
New Required ADR Survey Course for 1Ls
In January, 2018, Texas A&M Law launched an intensive 1-credit Dispute Resolution Survey course that all first-year law students are required to take during the week prior to Spring semester. Over five days, the course introduces the students to the continuum of legal dispute resolution processes, particularly negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and new developments such as collaborative law and online dispute resolution. Texas A&M Law’s Dispute Resolution Program faculty team-teach the course. Each faculty member focuses on his or her area of specialization. Professors Cynthia Alkon and Peter Reilly introduce the 1Ls to negotiation concepts and skills. Professors Nancy Welsh and Carol Pauli focus on mediation and new developments, and Professors Michael Green and Guillermo Garcia provide an overview of the practice and law of arbitration. Although the course includes substantial reading and some lecture, the students also engage in hands-on learning through exercises and simulations. By the end of the course, Texas A&M law students should be able to counsel clients regarding the basic differences among these processes, identify the issues that are important in choosing among and participating in them, and understand the role of lawyers.
New Global Programs Field Study Courses on Dispute Resolution in Israel and Scotland
Texas A&M Law students participated in Global Program Field Study courses in Israel and Scotland. While the students’ two-week visits to Israel and Scotland occurred in May, 2018, the students began their preparations during the Spring 2018 semester and will produce their research papers in Fall 2018.
Professors Nancy Welsh and Gabriel Eckstein led the Field Study course in Israel. It focused on water and energy management and dispute resolution. Students met with policy makers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and academics responsible for negotiating regional treaties collaborating to redress environmental issues in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, developing and operating facilities for water desalination and wastewater treatment, and advising regarding the development of recently-discovered natural gas reserves. Students’ research projects will address a variety of issues and include comparisons to U.S. law and technology. More information is available here.
Professors Guillermo Garcia and Randy Gordon led the Field Study course in Scotland. It introduced students to the world of international energy law and the resolution of energy disputes. Students became familiar with the types of international legal instruments that regulate global energy companies as well as dispute resolution mechanisms. During their visit to Scotland, students explored these issues with a range of guest speakers, including attorneys, academics, and regulators. Students also have been introduced to offshore regulation in the Gulf of Mexico, with the goal of being able to advise clients on how the global energy market is regulated. More information is available here.
New Perspectives on Dispute Resolution in Texas Course
In August, 2018, Texas A&M Law offered a new course focused particularly on dispute resolution practice in Texas. Designed and led by Adjunct Professor Kim Kovach, the course introduced students to Texas’ history with dispute resolution and to individuals and organizations key to its institutionalization and operation, ranging from the Dallas offices of JAMS and the American Arbitration Association to the Dispute Resolution Center of North Texas in Fort Worth and individual mediators and arbitrators practicing in the region. Professor Kovach has been a leader and visionary in dispute resolution for over 35 years. She created and conducted the first mediation training in Texas, served as Chair of the ADR Sections of the Texas and Houston bar associations and the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, and has authored numerous influential books and articles. We are honored that she has joined us in preparing our students for the modern practice of law and dispute resolution.
New Masters of Jurisprudence Course in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution for Business
In Spring 2018, Texas A&M Law launched a 1.5-credit course on Negotiation and Dispute Resolution in Business for students participating in the new M. Jur. program in San Antonio. Dispute Resolution Program faculty members team-taught this course, each focusing on his or her area of specialization.
Updated Dispute Resolution Concentration
Texas A&M Law has offered its students a Concentration in Dispute Resolution for several years. Students now are required to take core courses in dispute resolution generally, as well as negotiation, mediation and arbitration. A long list of electives includes additional dispute resolution courses as well as participation in credit-earning ADR competitions and clinics that provide for substantial student involvement in representing clients in negotiation or mediation. More information is available here.
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Conference: Natural Disasters, Stakeholder Engagement, and Dispute Resolution (April 2018)
Responding to the devastation caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, Texas A&M Law’s Dispute Resolution Program brought together public leaders, judges, lawyers, dispute resolution professionals and academics in April, 2018, to examine how dispute resolution and collaborative processes can play a role in recovery and resilience. The conference was co-sponsored by three other programs at Texas A&M Law: the Natural Resources Systems Program, Program on Real Estate and Community Development Law, and Global Programs. Presenters included faculty members from other Texas A&M University departments as well as: Marvin Odum, former president of Shell Oil Company, who was appointed by Houston’s mayor to serve as Chief Recovery Officer; Grande Lum, former Director of the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service; James Pearman, FEMA ADR Advisor; Robert Jerry, Isidor Loeb Professor of Law at University of Missouri School of Law; U.S. Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes and ADR Administrator Robyn Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York Court; and Kim Taylor, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal and Operating Officer of JAMS. Articles will be published in the Texas A&M Law Review and the Texas A&M Journal of Property Law. More information is available here.
Symposium: Shining a Light on Dispute Resolution: Transparency, Metrics and Empirical Research (November 2018)
In November, 2018, Texas A&M Law held its Dispute Resolution Symposium, focusing on the need for transparency, metrics, and empirical research regarding court-connected mediation and online dispute resolution, plea bargaining and deferred prosecution agreements, and diversity/inclusivity among dispute resolution neutrals. Texas A&M Law also held its inaugural regional dispute resolution “schmooze,” providing an opportunity to present academic works-in-progress and provide feedback to the National Centre for State Courts and The Pew Charitable Trusts regarding their evaluation of court-connected ODR. Much more information about the symposium and schmooze is available here.
Integration of Dispute Resolution into Upcoming Program Events at Texas A&M Law
Other programs at Texas A&M Law regularly include dispute resolution in their conferences and symposia. For example, Texas A&M Law’s 2018 annual Energy Law Symposium brought together academics and practitioners of Texas and Mexico to discuss the future and impact of energy--and included a panel discussion on investment arbitration as well as a presentation by Texas A&M Law student Jill Chandler Saul-Schmitz on oil and gas arbitration. The 2019 Energy Law Symposium will explore the role and perspective of consumers, municipalities, universities, corporations, and other grassroots actors in the energy economy and will include a panel on dispute resolution between energy companies and local communities.
The Aggie Dispute Resolution Program is co-sponsoring the Global Lawyering Program’s conference on February 28-March 1, 2019--Is There a North American Region Post-NAFTA? The U.S.- Mexico Puzzle—which will include a panel on dispute resolution. Also, the Aggie Dispute Resolution Program is co-sponsoring the Workplace Law Program’s April 5, 2019 conference--Modern Social Movements and Their Workplace Impact—which will consider the relationship between phenomena like the #MeToo movement and mandatory pre-dispute employment arbitration of sexual harassment claims.
Collaboration with Other Dispute Resolution Programs
The Aggie Dispute Resolution Program currently is working with Pepperdine’s Straus Institute, the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, and other dispute resolution leaders to offer a conference entitled Appreciating Our Legacy and Engaging the Future: An International Conference for Dispute Resolution Teachers, Scholars, and Leaders on June 18-19, 2019 at Pepperdine University.
RECENT FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP
(2016 – Present)
Cynthia Alkon
With Andrea Schneider, Negotiating Crime: Plea Bargaining, Problem Solving, and Dispute Resolution in the Criminal Context (forthcoming, 2019).
Standing the Test of Time: Galanter’s Analysis of the “Limits of Legal Change” as Applied to the U.S. Criminal Justice System, in Discussions in Dispute Resolution (Cole, Hinshaw & Schneider, eds) (forthcoming).
Plea Bargaining: An Example of Negotiating with Constraints, in The Negotiator’s Desk Reference, Vol. I (Honeyman & Schneider, eds, 2017).
Hard Bargaining in Plea Bargaining: When Do Prosecutors Cross the Line? 17 Nev. L.J. 401 (2017).
Plea Bargain Negotiations: Defining Competence Beyond Lafler and Frye, 53 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 377 (2016).
Guillermo Garcia
International Law on the Exploitation of Transboundary Hydrocarbon Resources and the Mexican Energy Reform (Tirant Lo Blanch, 2018) (in Spanish).
The Blurring of the Public/Private Distinction or the Collapse of a Category? The Story of Investment Arbitration, 18 Nev. L. J. 489 (2018).
To Speak With One Voice: The Political Effects Of Centralizing The International Legal Defense Of The State, 34 Ariz. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 557 (2017).
A New International Legal Regime for a New Reality in the War Against Drugs, 58 Harv. Int’l L. J. Online 39 (2017).
A Critical Approach to International Investment Law, the Hydrocarbons Industry and its Relation with Domestic Institutions, 57 Harv. Int’l. L. J. 476 (2016).
Michael Z. Green
Negotiating Race in the Workplace After Trump, __ Neg. J. __ (forthcoming in special issue on the impact of President Trump on the negotiation field).
Rewritten Opinion of Clark County School District v. Breeden in Feminist Judgments: Employment Discrimination Opinions Rewritten (McGinley & Porter, eds.) ((forthcoming).
Framing the Debate to Show How Big Guys Insist that Little Guys Arbitrate as a “Corporate Tool,” in Discussions in Dispute Resolution (Cole, Hinshaw & Schneider, eds) (forthcoming).
With Ellen Deason, Donna Shestowsky, Rory Van Loo & Ellen Waldman, ADR and Access to Justice: Current Perspectives, 33 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol.___ (forthcoming) (transcript of panel discussion).
Developing Workplace Law Programming: A Labor of Love, 86 UMKC L. Rev. 521 (2018).
Reconsidering Prejudice in Alternative Dispute Resolution for Black Work Matters, 70 SMU L. Rev. 639 (2017).
The Audacity of Protecting Racist Speech Under the National Labor Relations Act, 2017 U. Chi. Legal F. 235 (2017).
With Kyle Carney, Can NFL Players Obtain Judicial Review of Arbitration Decisions on the Merits When a Typical Hourly Union Worker Cannot Obtain This Unusual Court Access?, 20 N.Y.U. J. Legis.& Pub. Pol’y 403 (2017).
Negotiating While Black, in The Negotiator’s Desk Reference, Vol. I (Honeyman & Schneider, eds., 2017).
Employer-Provided Legal Services for Employment Claims, in Beyond Elite Law: Access to Civil Justice in America (Estreicher & Radice, eds., 2016).
Carol Pauli
Trina Grillo: Productive Rage, in Discussions in Dispute Resolution (Cole, Hinshaw & Schneider, eds.) (forthcoming).
Enemy of the People: Negotiating News at the White House, __ Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol.__ (forthcoming).
Atrocity Speech Law: Addressing Hate that Does Harm, 40 Human Rights Q. 718 (2018).
“Fake News,” No News, and the Needs of Local Communities, 61 How. L. J. 563 (2018).
Whole Other Story: Applying Narrative Mediation to the Immigration Beat, 18 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 23 (2016).
Peter Reilly
Sweetheart Deals, Deferred Prosecution, and Making a Mockery of the Criminal Justice System: U.S. Corporate DPAs Rejected on Many Fronts, __ Ariz. St. L. J. __ (forthcoming).
Machiavelli and the Bar: J.J. White as Negotiation Ethics Architect, in Discussions in Dispute Resolution (Hinshaw, Cole & Schneider, eds.) (forthcoming).
Deferred Prosecution as Discretionary Injustice, 2017 Utah L. Rev. 389 (2017).
Should Companies Always Fess Up to Corruption? Why It Can Be Strategically Wise Not to Self-Report Violations of Anti-Corruption Laws, 42 Cayman Fin. Rev. 78 (2016).
Nancy A. Welsh
The Untethering of Mediation from Relationships, in Discussions in Dispute Resolution (Cole, Hinshaw & Schneider, eds.) (forthcoming).
Dispute Resolution Neutrals’ Ethical Obligation to Support Measured Transparency, __ Okla. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming).
With Louis Del Duca, Interpretation and Application of the New York Convention in the United States, in The Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards--Application of the New York Convention by National Courts 995 (George A. Bermann ed., 2017).
Perceptions of Fairness, in The Negotiator’s Desk Reference, Vol. I (Honeyman & Schneider, eds., 2017).
Do You Believe in Magic?: Self-Determination and Procedural Justice Meet Prejudice in Court-Connected Mediation, 70 SMU L. Rev. 721 (2017).
Class Action-Barring Mandatory Pre-Dispute Consumer Arbitration Clauses: An Example of (and Opportunity for) Dispute System Design, 13 St. Thomas L. J. 381 (2017).
Magistrate Judges, Settlement and Procedural Justice, 16 Nev. L. J. 983 (2016).