President Obama’s speech (text is here and videos: Parts I, II, III, IV, and V) to a joint session of the U.S.Congress delivered on September 9, briefly mentioned a proposal to move the medical malpractice lawsuits out of the court system and before mediators, medical expert panels, and arbitrators. Although we have not been able to find out the details of the plan –it appears that it will be announced within a month– here is what some commentators are saying about it: States Could Offer Template for Revising Malpractice Law. Some states (Michigan, Minnesota, Kentucky, and others) have adopted a system that allows doctors to disclose medical errors and then enter into mediation to resolve the dispute. Other states (Florida, Georgia, and Illinois) require plaintiffs to have their case reviewed by physicians before the case is filed in court. (read more here) Obama Bucks the Trial Lawyers: Is Med-Mal Reform Imminent? A similar proposal on medical malpractice plan for tort reform was first outlined by President George W. Bush. According to this article, President Obama’s reform would be in the form of an executive order, not via legislation. (read more here) Tort Reform: Obama’s Silver Bullet. The reform on top of the list, “early disclosure” by doctors was proposed by then-Senator Obama and co-sponsored by Hillary Clinton. The second reform would require any Complainant to obtain an affidavit stating the the claim has merits. According to this report, both measures have been accepted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee as amendments to the health-reform legislation. (read more here) Read coverage at the BBC, WSJ, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post. Stay tuned to Disputing for updates on this controversial topic! Technorati Tags: Tort Reform, Healthcare President Obama, speech September 9, arbitration, ADR, law, mediation
Continue reading...Diane Levin, who maintains the impressive World Directory of ADR Blogs and is the managing editor for the Mediation Channel, has named our blog Disputing as one of her 24 Alternative Dispute Resolutions Blogs to Follow. We invite you to read the post and subscribe to her recommended blogs here. Like Disputing, the Mediation Channel is a Mediate.com Featured Blog. Thank you Diane! Karl Bayer, Alyson Chaky, Holly Hayes, and Victoria VanBuren
Continue reading...As discussed in our previous posts (here, here, and here) a U.S. Congressional Hearing on consumer debt arbitration was held on July 22, 2009 in Washington D.C. We thought that you might be interesting in watching these videos. Part 1 Part 2 (please fast forward 4:40 minutes) Technorati Tags: arbitration, ADR, law, consumer arbitration
Continue reading...By Holly Hayes Steve Mehta wrote a thoughtful and thought-provoking post on bad faith mediation on his blog Mediation Matters. Mr. Mehta references HB 2256, a Texas law that addresses three things as bad faith: failure to participate, failure to have a full authority representative present, and failing to provide necessary information. It authorizes the mediator to report this conduct. Mr. Mehta notes, “Interestingly, I do not think a statute like this would pass muster in California due to the limitations that the courts have imposed on the mediator’s ability to disclose information from the mediation. But even if this limitation were removed by statute (as an exception to confidentiality), is it reasonable to ask the mediator to disclose this bad faith action? Isn’t the mediator going to lose all credibility with one side or the other for reporting potential conduct? Moreover, aren’t many cases subject to interpretation. For example, what if a person has authority to settle from an insurance company but is limited by the authority given to him or her by the round table committee? Is that full authority or is that failure to provide a proper person? Is a client’s obstinate refusal to see the lack of merits in its position a failure to participate in the process? And what is necessary information? Does the party have to disclose all information? All relevant information? All unfavorable information? What if the party knows of a case or a theory that would destroy its position, but the other side doesn’t? The issue of bad faith is very complex and in my humble opinion cannot be defined as easily as the Texas Legislators seem to suggest.” I agree with Mr. Mehta’s conclusion, “We should be very careful about claiming bad faith, and should be even more careful in legislating bad faith in mediation.” Technorati Tags: ADR, law, mediation Holly Hayes is a mediator at Karl Bayer, Dispute Resolution Expert where she focuses on mediation of health care disputes. Holly holds a B.A. from Southern Methodist University and a Masters in Health Administration from Duke University. She can be reached at: holly@karlbayer.com.
Continue reading...Disputing is published by Karl Bayer, a dispute resolution expert based in Austin, Texas. Articles published on Disputing aim to provide original insight and commentary around issues related to arbitration, mediation and the alternative dispute resolution industry.
To learn more about Karl and his team, or to schedule a mediation or arbitration with Karl’s live scheduling calendar, visit www.karlbayer.com.
Disputing is published by Karl Bayer, a dispute resolution expert based in Austin, Texas. Articles published on Disputing aim to provide original insight and commentary around issues related to arbitration, mediation and the alternative dispute resolution industry.
To learn more about Karl and his team, or to schedule a mediation or arbitration with Karl’s live scheduling calendar, visit www.karlbayer.com.