John Wade

Reasons for the tensions between the cultures of law school and law office

John Wade — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:02:15 PST

This paper identifies a catalogue of reasons for tensions between two cultures, bracketed broadly under the heading of “formal university law school” and “professional legal practice”.1

The paper suggests that some of these conflicts are remediable, some are inevitable and some are beneficial.

Limited purpose marriages

John Wade — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:02:12 PST

A LIMITED purpose marriage occurs when a man and a woman enter a full status legal marriage and yet at that time one or both of them do not intend to fulfil some or all of the important legal and social duties culturally expected of a “normal” marriage. That is, although the parties consent to the ceremony or commencement of the marriage, they do not fully consent to its cultural and legal functions.1

Marriage and Cohabitation Contracts

John Wade — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:02:08 PST

Extract:

Hollywood films and movie stars sometimes mention ‘pre-nups’ or ‘marriage contracts’. What are these mysterious documents? One description is that a marriage or cohabitation agreement is a written record of the expectations of a married or cohabitating couple in relation to lifestyle and finances which is entered into before and sometimes during marital cohabitation. In limited circumstances, certain parts of such agreements are legally enforceable. In some countries and cultures, including South Africa and Quebec, marriage contracts are common amongst the wealthy.

The committee to make the students learn

John Wade — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:42:27 PST

"Judicial" decision-making in Australia - Critique and redemption

John Wade — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:56:21 PDT

Extract:

This paper has four parts, namely a description of:

A. The Context ▪ Australia (the place) ▪ The vast landscape of “judicial” or quasi-judicial decision makers

B. The Commentary ▪ Repetitive critiques of judicial decision-making ▪ Redemption of judicial decision making

Plus an Appendix on Court Structures with details and diagrams.

Mediation workshop: Basic course materials

Laurence Boulle et al. — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:14:32 PDT

Four myths of family law

John Wade — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:14:31 PDT

Extract:

Family lawyers are often cornered in taxis, elevators and supermarkets by people who seek advice or who want to express strong opinions. Their opinions include myths and generalizations. In this context, a "myth" is a story which may have a grain of truth, but which otherwise is inaccurate. Here are four of those myths and my responses to them.

Preparing for mediation and negotiation in succession disputes

John Wade — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:29:49 PDT

This paper argues that a major task for lawyers in succession disputes, negotiations and mediations is to assist clients make wise decisions in the face of uncertainty. This requires preparation. A short preparation model of five humble hypotheses is set out. Normally, these should be discussed with any mediator well before a mediation takes place. Example precedent preparation forms are attached.

Matching disputes and responses: How to diagnose causes of conflict, and to respond with appropriate interventions and/or referrals

John Wade — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:29:48 PDT

This short paper will address three broad topics from an Australian perspective. Parts of this paper will be relevant to Canada and to other countries. First, where is the pressure coming from for dispute resolution professionals to improve the diagnosis of causes of conflict; and to improve the choice of intervention and/or referral to other skilled helpers?

Secondly, what diagnostic dispute resolution services (problem defining) are currently “available”? What methods are used to make an initial diagnosis of causes of a conflict, and appropriate possible “interventions”?

Thirdly, what dispute resolution assistance (problem solving) is “available” in each area of conflict? ( workplace, banking, personal injury, family, school, political, construction, insurance etc) What factors affect “availability”?

Defining success in negotiation and other dispute resolution training

John Wade — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:57:37 PDT

This article describes three types of negotiation courses and asks what range of goals is usually achieved in such courses from the overlapping perspectives of organizers, teachers, and participants. It then translates Benjamin Bloom's categories of educational goals into aspirational goals for any negotiation course.

What do clients of mediators "want"?

John Wade — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:28:58 PDT

Extract:

This title reflects a familiar marketing and ethical question for all service providers – what do clients of plumbers/doctors/psychologists/builders/lawyers etc want?
Predictably, the answers given by anecdote, “theory” and more systematic research are complicated and conflicting. There is a simple answer to every complex question, and it is wrong.
There are three elements in the question – what do the (1) clients of (2) mediators (3) want?

Marriage and cohabitation contracts

John Wade — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:52:46 PST

Extract:

Hollywood films and movie stars sometimes mention "pre-nups" or "marriage contracts". What are these mysterious documents? One description is that a marriage or cohabitation agreement is a written record of the expectations of a married or cohabitating couple in relation to lifestyle and finances which is entered into before and sometimes during marital cohabitation. In limited circumstances, certain parts of such agreements are legally enforceable. In some countries and cultures, including South Africa and Quebec, marriage contracts are common amongst the wealthy.

The procedural evolution of conflict towards litigation and implications for legal publishers

John Wade — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:51:20 PST

This paper will summarise three topics found repetitively in the research of Professor Marc Galanter, namely –
• The pyramids of conflict
• The decline of “full-blown” trials
• The increase of “law”
The goal is to promote brainstorming about the consequences of these analyses for legal publishers.

Conflict Management: A Practical Guide

John Wade — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:35:56 PST

Extract:

Peter Condliffe’s book is a welcome addition to the growing library of literature on conflict management. His long bibliography (pp 281-96), gives a glimpse of how much activity is occurring in analysis, story-telling and research on conflict management.

Levels of problem definition

John Wade — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:19:53 PST

Extarct:

Leonard Riskin has suggested that problem definition can take place at (at least) four conceptual levels — namely legal, commercial (or problem solving), personal and community levels.

Special methods and tools for educating the transnational lawyer

Duncan Bentley et al. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:56:37 PDT

Extract:

The development of legal education has seen a variety of experiments that are more common in other fields of education, such as medicine, engineering and information technology. Examples of these experiments include case studies using:
1. Group project simulations;
2. International collaboration; and
3. Cross-cultural negotiations.²

² See note in paper.

Re-inventing the pyramid: A process for teaching and learning in mediation courses

John Wade — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:56:36 PDT

This article describes an orthodox teaching and learning process known as the pyramid. It sets out how this basic process can be used in mediation (and other) training courses. The variations, advantages, and disadvantages of this learning procedure are described. Analogies are drawn between the pyramid method and mediation. Finally, mediators are challenged to add this process and its variations to their repertoires both as trainers and as mediators.

Forever bargaining in the shadow of the law - Who sells solid shadows? (Who advises what, how and when?)

John Wade — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:56:35 PDT

Extract:

Mediators, lawyers and other skilled helpers normally exhort disputants to obtain “independent legal advice” before or after entering into negotiations. This article attempts to demystify and catalogue the concept of “legal advice” particularly in family disputes. Such a catalogue of in-formation and advice quickly raises a series of questions:
• How much of this information and advice is actually made available at present?
• How much information is necessary or helpful?
• In what manner, form and language should such advice be given?
• By whom should such advice be given?
• How much of this information is within the competence of a single professional work group (such as lawyers or counsellors)?
• On what timing should such advice be given?
The article concludes that all these questions need ongoing research. Meanwhile, the sources, forms and price of (legal) advice should be creatively diversified in Australia in order to meet the needs of large numbers of disputants who enter into negotiation or mediation “in the shadow of the law”. This is a challenge for creative lawyers, counsellors, mediators and other skilled helpers who seek to prepare clients for negotiation or mediation.

Negotiating with difficult people

John Wade — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:55:18 PDT

Extract:

This paper firstly suggests a working description of a “difficult person”; secondly, describes outward behaviours of such labelled people; thirdly, sets out five overlapping categories of causes; and finally suggests a toolbox of responses for each “type” of cause.

This topic has a vast foundation in medical, psychiatric, counselling, management, cultural, theological and negotiation literature.¹

¹ See note in paper.

Don’t waste my time on negotiation or mediation; this case needs a judge: When is litigation the right solution?

John Wade — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:29:09 PDT

This article contains two parts. First, there is a framework aimed at encouraging lawyers and other conflict managers to be overtly analytical when deciding which interventions may or may not be helpful in a particular conflict. Second, to illustrate this analytical framework, there are two lists of factors or diagnostic indicators that suggest that certain conflicts probably need the decision of an umpire or judge and that certain other conflicts probably need written claims to be filed in a court or tribunal. This article does not attempt to create lists of factors that indicate the suitability of many other processes, such as early neutral evaluation, problem-solving mediation, and arbitration.