Blog
Neither Coronation Nor Chaos: What Dispute Systems Design Can Teach Democrats
By Deanna Pantín Parrish “U.S. Senator Kamala Harris speaking with supporters at the annual West Des Moines Democratic Party Summer picnic at Legion Park in West Des Moines, Iowa.” by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, USA. CC BY-SA 2.0 With or without knowing it, we are involved in a nationwide discussion about process. Be still…
President Biden just challenged us to re-engage with our values. Will we accept?
By Sara del Nido Budish White House and Green Grass by Gryerbaby CC0 1.0 Who could have predicted that the 2024 Presidential race would be defined by a moment of vulnerability? When President Biden opted to withdraw his candidacy for re-election, he made a clear statement that the interests of the country must override any…
Harvard Mediation Program: Experience of a lifetime
By Bertha Aniagyei LL.M. ’24 Originally published on the website for the Office of Clinical & Pro Bono Programs As a person who has worked for more than a decade in the traditional adjudicatory system and witnessed its high and low points, I was convinced that alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, particularly mediation, offered a better…
Walking a fine line between facilitation and adjudication in the Harvard Mediation Program
By Manoranjitha Reddy Ani LL.M. ’24 Originally published on the website for the Office of Clinical & Pro Bono Programs The earliest memories of my childhood are tinged with the idea and practice of ‘law.’ Having witnessed the journey of two litigators (my grandfather and father) throughout my life, I had a perception that litigation…
The Fight for Boston’s GLX and CLX: Stakeholder Mapping and Integrative Negotiation – Part II
by Justin Minion ’23 In Part I of this series, I have covered stakeholders battles that would likely be described as “distributive.” For instance, the stakeholder battles between the Conservative Law Foundation and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and between the MBTA and the MassDot would likely be examined through the lens of zero-sum bargaining. In…
The Fight for Boston’s GLX and CLX: Stakeholder Mapping and Integrative Negotiation — Part I
By Justin Minion ’23 On a Wednesday evening in April of 2014, Jack Wright, the interim project manager for the Green Line Extension, stood on stage at a town hall meeting and faced an angry audience of residents from Somerville, Medford, and Cambridge. Jack informed the audience that funding for the much-anticipated Community Path, which…
Knowing and Navigating Decision Rules
by Lorea Mendiguren ’23 Decision rules are a crucial part of multi-party negotiation. Whether it’s a shift in policies in the workplace, the passing of legislation in Congress, or the adoption of a World Trade Organization ruling, the process for determining how a decision is made has a major impact on the way that negotiations…
Dealing in Justice: System-Level Solutions for Plea Bargaining Inefficiencies in Massachusetts Municipal and District Courts
by Stephanie Kelemen ’22 Plea bargains are like medications with bad side effects—extraordinarily painful to take, but they get the job done. In some cases, the pain outweighs the benefit of the treatment. But in the vast majority of cases—97 percent to be precise—criminal defendants take their medicine. And it hurts every single time. I…
Negotiators x PATHWAYS: A Collaboration to Facilitate Negotiations Training to Students Across the World
This year, the Harvard Law School (HLS) Negotiators (a student practice organization) had the opportunity to work with the PATHWAYS Institute for Negotiation Education to offer undergraduate students on both sides of the Atlantic an experiential journey into creative negotiation, fostering connections with peers from other backgrounds, and developing critical thinking and communication skills.
This time, let’s not talk about process
In the frenzied hours since Politico published a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito striking down Roe v. Wade, commentators and writers have used strong language to emphasize the historic importance of the leak: “unprecedented,” “shocking,” “singular and egregious.” But this focus on the leak—how it happened, who did it, and what it means for the…
What does Putin Want?: Assessing Interests in the Invasion of Ukraine
by Lorea Mendiguren ’23 With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and no indication of diplomatic progress since December, two questions are at top of mind: what happens next and what can we do? To understand what is driving the Kremlin’s actions and create space for potential resolutions, we must first identify what the Kremlin actually…
Introducing the HNMCP Spring 2022 Student Blogger
We are excited to introduce Lorea Mendiguren ‘23, who will be contributing recurring columns to our blog this spring.
Negotiating the Boundaries of Acceptable Pandemic Behavior: Takeaways from Conversations with First-Year Law Students Living with Roommates in 2020-2021
Living with roommates always necessitates some degree of negotiating boundaries. Even in non-pandemic times, roommates must decide norms around cleaning common spaces, communal versus individual use of food and cookware, and playing music. The COVID-19 pandemic added additional complexity, as it brought to the forefront many of the behaviors that roommates would traditionally not need…
The Draw and Importance of Alternative Dispute Resolution: Perspectives from HNMCP Student Leaders
by Valerie Gutmann ’23 Part I: How I Became Involved with and Interested in Alternative Dispute Resolution at HLS The first time I heard the phrase “alternative dispute resolution” (ADR) was in the fall of 2020. I had just started at Harvard Law School (HLS) virtually, during a pandemic, and I was listening to the President…
Introducing our Fall 2021 Student Bloggers
We are excited to introduce two student writers who will be contributing recurring columns to our blog this fall. Kelly Murphy ’24 and Valerie Gutmann ’23 bring a diverse range of experiences to their current work in dispute resolution. Both trained mediators, Kelly and Valerie will offer informed and thoughtful perspectives on not only mediation, but also…
Tech Disruption: An Interview with HNMCP Clinical Fellow Oladeji Tiamiyu
Technology-driven change is coming to our community so the more dialogue we have, the more likely we can avoid harmful outputs while still harnessing the benefits.