We came across an interesting new book on negotiations, Lawyering with Planned Early Negotiations: How You Can Get Good Results for Clients and Make Money, by John Lande, Professor and Director of the LLM Program in Dispute Resolution at the University of Missouri School of Law. Here is the book description: Whether you’re a solo practitioner or in a mid- to large-sized firm, you negotiate often in your career. This guide discusses how you

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By Brett Goodman Similar to a court referring a case to mediation in the first place, in Texas, a trial court is under a discretionary standard concerning imposing sanctions for failure to appear. See Roberts v. Rose, 37 S.W.3d 31, 33 (Tex. App. 2000). Discretion is abused when the trial court acts without reference to any guiding rules or principles. See Johnson v.. Fourth Court of Appeals, 700 S.W.2d 916, 918 (Tex.1985). Courts have an inherent

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by Michael McIlwrath Earlier this year, Italian lawyers went on strike to protest the country’s introduction of a law imposing a requirement to attempt settlement through mediation as a precondition to proceeding to litigate in court. Perhaps not wanting to be outdone by their European brethren, the Association of Indian Lawyers (AIL) has filed suit in the High Court of Delhi to thwart an innovate effort to provide parties with an alternative to

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The Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial of confirmation of an arbitral award. In AMOCO D.T. Co.v. Occidental Petroleum Corp., NO. 14-09-00651-CV, (Tex. App.–Houston [14th Dist.] May 17, 2011, Amoco D.T. Company (“Amoco”) and Shell Land & Energy Company (“Shell”) entered into a purchase-and-sale agreement with Occidental Petroleum Corporation (“Oxy”). Pursuant to the agreement, Oxy made a demand for

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