We would like to welcome Tips for Young Lawyers to the blogosphere. The blog is hosted by Frank Ramos (pictured right) an attorney from Miami, Florida. As its name suggests, Tips for Young Lawyers provides guidance for young attorneys on everything from litigation and trial, to marketing, leadership, social networking, personal development, and ethics. Check out Preparing for Mediation, posted on August 18th. We look forward to reading more of your posts, Frank. The Disputing Team

On August 17, 2011 the defendants in Jones v. Halliburton et al. filed two motions seeking to recover from Jamie Leigh Jones: (1) an undisclosed amount for attorneys’ fees [update: $2 million] and (2) the costs of the lawsuit [update: $140 K] brought by Jones. Jones had sued the defendants for negligence, negligent undertaking, sexual harassment and hostile environment under Title VII of the Civil rights Act of 1964, breach of contract, fraud in the inducement to enter the employment contract, fraud in the inducement to agree to arbitration, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment. Related Posts: Jamie Leigh Jones v. Halliburton/KBR | Jury Reaches Verdict (July 9, 2011) Jones v. Halliburton/KBR: Trial Begins, Not Arbitration (June 25, 2011) Jones v. Halliburton: Halliburton and KBR Withdraw U.S. Supreme Court Appeal (Mar. 24, 2010) Halliburton/KBR Files Cert. in Jones v. Halliburton (Feb. 8, 2010) Guest-Post Part II | Employment Arbitration: Short-Term Value but Long-Term Harm (Jan. 7, 2010) Guest-Post Part I | Employment Arbitration: Short-Term Value but Long-Term Harm (Jan. 6, 2010) 2009 Developments: Consumer and Employment Arbitration (Dec. 23, 2009) Defense Contractor Mandatory Arbitration Passes Senate (Oct. 13, 2009) Jones v. Halliburton: Fifth Circuit Rules on Arbitration of Tort Claims by an Employee (Sept. 18, 2009) Employment and Consumer Arbitration: NPR Article (June 10, 2009) Technorati Tags: ADR, law, arbitration

JAMS published recently a timely article by Justin Kelly, entitled “The Uniform Mediation Act Turns 10 This Year.” Here is an excerpt: The Uniform Mediation Act, adopted 10 years ago, has provided a clear privilege on mediation communications and in the states where it has been adopted, it has been well received by practitioners, parties and the courts, according to academics and practitioners. The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) adopted the UMA in 2001 and the American Bar Association followed a year later. The UMA is designed to provide uniform confidentiality protections for mediation communications across the country. The act establishes a privilege for mediators and mediation participants to refuse to disclose and prevent others from disclosing communications in subsequent legal proceedings. The privilege is held by the parties, the mediators and non-parties that are involved in the mediation process. Find the entire piece here.

ABA Journal reports that AT&T filed last week eight lawsuits in federal courts seeking to block customer arbitrations that could prevent a potential merger with T-Mobile. Related Posts: AT&T Sues Customers Who Seek to Block T-Mobile Deal, Reuters (Aug. 17) AT&T Goes After Customers Over T-Mobile Merger Lawsuit, PC Magazine (Aug. 15) LawFirm Says 1,000 Customer Arbitration Cases Files Seeking to Stop AT&T T-Mobile Deal, All Things D (Aug. 9) AT&T Customers File Arbitration Cases Seeking to Block T-Mobile Merger, All Things D (July 22) GUEST-POST PART III | States’ Rights, Big Business and the Nature of Arbitration: AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, Disputing (May 26) GUEST-POST PART II | States’ Rights, Big Business and the Nature of Arbitration: AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, Disputing (May 25) GUEST-POST PART I | States’ Rights, Big Business and the Nature of Arbitration: AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, Disputing (May 24) AT&T Mobility, LLC v. Concepcion: FAA preempts rule that makes class action waivers in arbitration agreements unenforceable, DLA Piper (May 2) GUEST-POST PART I | AT&T Mobility, LLC v. Concepcion and the Bright Side of the Force, Disputing (May 2) GUEST-POST PART II | AT&T Mobility, LLC v. Concepcion and the Bright Side of the Force, Disputing (May 2) Opinion analysis: What counts as arbitration, and who decides? SCOTUSblog (April 30) Arbitration Decision Suggests SCOTUS Majority Are Pro-Business More Than Jurisprudential Conservatives, Dorf on Law (April 29) AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion: Arbitration, Legal Fees and Class Actions, ADR Law (April 29) Seeking a Day in Court: When Litigants Reject Tenders of Damages, Business Conflict Blog (April 28) After AT&T Ruling, Should We Say Goodbye to Consumer Class Actions? The Wall Street Journal (April 27) Stay tuned. Technorati Tags: law, ADR, arbitration