On Bankruptcy and Mediation
By: Donald L Swanson When ABI’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 issued its Final Report in 2014, one creative approach it recommended is to authorize a new bankruptcy position: the "estate neutral." The Final Report says that chapter 11 "needs to offer tools to resolve a debtor’s financial distress." The estate neutral would... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson “We have been much struck by the system operated in British Columbia whereby a party can issue a notice to their opponent in a specified form requiring mediation.” “[T]he establishment” of such a system “has led to the growth of informally agreed mediation as a norm” with the formal procedure “only... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson “Perhaps no idea has proven more controversial within evolutionary biology than the idea that evolution manifests progress.” --T. Shanahan (7/16/2012) The track-on-a-graph for mediation progress is, without question or controversy, upward! The formal and frequent use of mediation to resolve lawsuits in the U.S. dates back to experimental programs of the... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson “[I]n settings like mediation, rhetorical questions may not be effective as a persuasion device, and under certain circumstances may even be counter-productive.” --Profs. James Stark & Douglas Frenkel, “Changing Minds: The Work of Meidators and Empirical Studies of Persuasion.” [All information below is from this 2013 article; and see Footnote below.]... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson “the Court finds that mediation may be an efficient and effective mechanism . . . to consensually resolve or narrow the objections to the plan.” --Hon. Stuart M. Bernstein, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Southern District of New York, in Avaya Inc. mediation referral Order dated 9/13/2017 (emphasis added). We can all take a... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson The problem with early neutral evaluation is this: it’s a prediction. An early neutral evaluator is an expert, who is trying to predict what a judge, jury or appellate court will decide about the merits of a dispute. Early Neutral Evaluation – A Tricky Business Prognostication is always a tricky business. And... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson Mediation needs to be included — explicitly and by name — in the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. A new Rule is needed to cover two specific subjects: (i) mediation authorization, and (ii) mediation confidentiality. All other areas of mediation practice and procedure can be addressed in local rules, provided that the... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson The voluntary mediation scheme “does remain under-used.” --October 2017 Interim Report on Mediation in England and Wales England’s Civil Justice Council is an Advisory Body established under the “Civil Procedure Act 1997” to oversee and co-ordinate “the modernization of the civil justice system.” On January 28, 2016, the Council formed a Working... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson Timeline for a Plan Confirmation Dispute November 11: Creditor requests an order requiring mediation November 14 (a.m.): Debtor objects to request for mediation order November 14 (p.m.): Court orders mediation December 6: Debtor and creditor reach a settlement agreement February 7: Debtor’s bankruptcy plan is confirmed This timeline is from a... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson There’s a lawsuit now in progress in a Florida Federal Court over a local pub. The Pub Dispute Plaintiff claims to be "a franchisor” of “establishments” that sell “imported and domestic beers” and other products used in “a distinctive pub environment.” Plaintiff also claims to have “methods and procedures—a system—” that... Continue Reading →
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