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Law 7060 |
Course Syllabus ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE
RESOLUTION - LAW 7060 SYLLABUS - Fall 2009 Class Time: 2:45 - 5:30 pm. Room: 652, but subject to change. Office hours: To be determined and by appointment.
Feel free to call me (404)413-9147 or e-mail anytime to dyarn@gsu.edu at
Georgia State or at my home office (706)548-0726. If I'm not there, leave a
message, and I'll call you back. Course Description: Lawyers prevent, manage, and resolve
disputes. The ability to counsel on and advocate in a variety of dispute
resolution processes is essential in today's legal environment. An important
aspect of counseling is the ability to advise clients on different ways to
resolve their problems. Alternative dispute resolution ("ADR")
refers to ways other than litigation to resolve disputes. Arguably, ADR is
the most radical reform to the justice system in the last two decades and is
now essential to a lawyer's work. This course is designed to introduce you to
ADR processes, theory, and skills. The course is divided roughly into two
parts. The first half of the course is devoted to understanding conflict and
negotiation since these constitute the foundation of most other ADR
processes. The second half of the course focuses on mediation, arbitration,
and court-connected ADR processes but the focus is clearly on arbitration. By
necessity, this half involves considerably more law and lecture. The course combines theory and
practice. You are introduced to theory through the readings and lectures. By
the end of the course, you should be able to use theory to match an
appropriate dispute resolution process to a particular client problem.
Today's advocates must be able to negotiate settlements with other lawyers
and to represent clients in other ADR processes. You can develop your advocacy
skills through the simulations and role plays which we will conduct both in
and out of class. The role playing will reinforce particular points of
theory. It takes time, discipline, and
self-awareness to develop new skills or to improve old ones. This course is
merely an introduction to a particular set of lawyering skills, albeit very
important ones; however, by recording the key aspects of each negotiation
experience in a journal, you can start a habit of skill-building through
review and self-critique. Your "negotiation journal" will help you
think through what you did that worked (and what didn't) so you can apply
that knowledge to your next negotiation. This course is a prerequisite
for the Advanced ADR Seminar, which provides a more in-depth exploration into
theory, and is highly recommended for Mediation, which involves
skill-building through mediator training. Texts, etc.: The primary required textbooks are
Yarn & Jones, Georgia Alternative Dispute Resolution (3d ed. 2006
w/ latest supp.), and Fisher, Ury, and Patton, Getting to Yes: Negotiating
Agreement Without Giving In (2d ed. 1992) (GTY). I have resisted
assigning my own book for years; however, as the cost of the other legal
textbooks I've assigned in the past are now almost the same as mine, I
thought you might as well buy a book that you can use in actual law practice.
You can purchase it directly from West
Publishing (free shipping!) or from the GSU bookstore (which as I last
checked are selling it at a more reasonable price). Additional material will
be in the form of handouts or on reserve at the library. After I am sure of
the exact number of students in the class, I will distribute role plays for
which there may be a modest shipping, copying, and copyright charge. During
the second week of class, please bring a check for $12.00 made out to
"Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, GSU." You need a three-ring
binder for the handouts, role plays, and journal entries. This course
is on-line and, as most of the course materials and instructions will be
distributed electronically, access to the Internet is essential, and you must
check the "Assignments" and "Course Materials" pages of
this web site regularly. Laptops: The use of computers to take notes in class is generally
discouraged for the first half of the course. At times, I will ban their use
entirely. I will distribute handouts of overheads when I use them. Grading: Forty percent (40%) of your grade will be
participation as reflected in class and by your journal. A final exam will
determine the remaining sixty percent (60%). In some of the role plays, you
will compete for points which may be applied to your participation grade. I will make occasional small
assignments for inclusion in your journal that are applied to your
participation grade. You are expected to record your role play preparations
and subsequent observations in a journal. Your journal should reflect an
understanding of the readings and lectures as well as application of the
concepts to personal experiences or current events. I will use your journals
to help me determine participation grades and may ask for any portion of your
journals at any time, so keep them current. Often, I will ask for you to
submit a particular journal entry to me electronically. The exam will be
short answer/short essay and will test your understanding of and ability to
apply the concepts presented in the readings and lectures and will be
strongly focused on the arbitration portion of the course. Attendance and
Participation: It
is not my practice to "spoon feed" the reading materials, and all
the role plays and lectures build on the readings, so I strongly recommend
that you read the assigned materials in advance of class to get the most out
of that class. Classes in this
course are very participatory, and role plays require more than cursory
preparation. On days we have in-class
simulations or role plays, full attendance is critical so that everyone can
participate. We could run overtime by about 10 minutes when we conduct
in-class role plays. If at all possible, warn me in advance when you cannot
attend a particular class so I can adjust role play assignments. I may call
on you in class to report on how you prepared for a particular role play. Absences
or lateness will negatively affect your participation grade. Team preparation and
out-of-class role plays present unique problems in managing time and space.
Getting together with clients, associates, and the other side is a real-life
problem. As in real life, it is essential that you schedule, PREPARE (with
your teammates, if applicable), show up, and participate. A good time to
schedule with others and prepare with team members is immediately after a
class. If you find it convenient to conduct an out-of-class role play
immediately before class, I urge you to give yourself plenty of time. If you
are not prepared your fellow classmates will not receive an optimal learning
experience. Failure to prepare with a team member or to participate in a
role play as scheduled will negatively affect your participation grade. Rules: You are expected to abide by the
honor code, of course. If you know about or previously have experienced
one of the role plays, you must continue to play without revealing what you
may know about it to the other players. If you finish your in-class role play before others,
start debriefing with your partners and be respectful of others. Until we
debrief a role play in class, you may not discuss the facts of the case,
particularly your confidential facts,
with anyone in the class except your negotiating team members; however, you
can review process and skills with the other side without discussing
substance. After an in-class debriefing, you can discuss it with classmates
and tell others who are not in the class how much fun you had, but I will
consider it a violation of the honor code to reveal any details about the
role plays and simulations to students outside of the class. Good role plays
are difficult to design. Premature discussion or revelation of details will
ruin the learning experience for others. This class gives you an
opportunity to experiment with new styles and techniques. In fact, the role
plays may require you to take positions, say things, and act in ways that may
be contrary to your nature. Experiment with different negotiating styles and
techniques and try to be convincing in role plays. If someone makes you mad,
remind yourself that they are playing a role and examine why they got to you.
The point is to learn and have fun doing it. You can embellish facts but be
careful about making up facts that distort the scenario. |