15 December
Public lecture by Prof. Larry Baken "Dispute Resolution: Promises, Practices and Problems"
The Riga Graduate School of Law hosted a public lecture of Prof. Larry Bakken from the Hamline University School of Law. He spoke on the topic "Dispute Resolution: Promises, Practices and Problems".
Modern dispute resolution practitioners have made many promises about the success and benefits for mediation, conciliation and other more adjudicative like dispute settlement methods. These promises have included faster decisions, better decisions, improved personal relations and even transformative experiences. Practitioners in the dispute resolution field have discovered that many alternative dispute techniques have generated unique and troublesome problems. Some of the current problems include:
• Enforcement of settlements;
• Questions of confidentiality;
• Mediation/arbitration hybrid processes;
• Malpractice and ethic issues;
• Mediator manipulation and
• Court order dispute mechanisms.
Professor Bakken discussed a variety of modern dispute techniques and their impact on the practice of law. Special attention was given to how lawyers can help clients make good decisions about dispute resolution options and how to match dispute resolution styles of neutrals to a client’s needs and goals. Professor Bakken also discussed the role of advocacy in the dispute resolution environment and how problem solving negotiation can improve one’s transactional practice. He also examined the development of collaborative law and dispute resolution and how one might integrate dispute techniques into one’s practice.