The Houston Chronicle reports on Halliburton and KBR’s appeal of the recent Fifth Circuit decision in Jones v. Halliburton, 583 F.3d 228 (5th Cir. 2009) : Halliburton, KBR drop court appeal in rape case By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI Associated Press Writer © 2010 The Associated Press March 22, 2010, 5:09PM HOUSTON — Halliburton Co. and KBR Inc. have withdrawn an appeal asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lawsuit by a former military contractor who says she was raped by KBR co-workers in Iraq. KBR said in a statement Monday that it withdrew the appeal to not risk violating a recently passed federal provision it called “very broad and vague,” that restricts the Defense Department from doing business with companies that prohibit employees from seeking redress for certain crimes through the courts. “As a result, KBR did not want to risk being in violation of the amendment, so the company withdrew its petition,” KBR said in a statement. Diana Gabriel, a spokeswoman for Halliburton, also confirmed the appeal was withdrawn but declined to elaborate. Read the complete article here. Related Posts: Halliburton/KBR Files Cert. in Jones v. Halliburton (Feb. 8, 2010) Employment Arbitration: Issues Implementing the ‘Franken Amendment’ (Feb. 2, 2010) U.S. Arbitration and Mediation Legislative Update (Jan. 25, 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

By Holly Hayes Robert Bordone, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program at Harvard Law School and co-editor of the widely used book “The Handbook of Dispute Resolution” discusses mistakes in the health care reform debate that could have been avoided by a better negotiation process in two interviews posted below. Watch the interview with Harvard Law Online: See this interview with CNN’s “Situation Room” hosted by Wolf Blitzer on February 24 (click here). 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.

The ABA Section of Dispute Resolution announced the 2010 winners of its First Annual Mediation Video Contest on YOUTUBE. The Second Prize Winner was “Mediation: A Better Way to Resolve Disputes” submitted by: Kristie Giaimo, Sue Ritter, Ian Long, Melissa Guise, Linda Hartman, Michael Reed, Jeff Bowen, Reed Stewart. Check it out! Stay tuned to Disputing for the Honorable Mention Winners! Technorati Tags: ADR, law, arbitration

As more cases involving arbitration between a lawyer and client make their way through the courts, we question if it is a good idea to include arbitration clauses in retainer agreements. Last year, the Honorable Bea Ann Smith, Charles F. Herring Jr., and Karl Bayer presented that topic at a Texas Bar CLE Webcast (available here). Any thoughts? Related Posts: Texas Appellate Court Enforces Attorney-Client Arbitration Agreement (March 11, 2010) Fifth Circuit Compels Arbitration of Attorney’s Fees Dispute Between Law Firm and Former Client (Feb. 4, 2010) Arbitration of Attorney/Client Disputes Webcast Post-Mortem (with paper by Chuck Herring) (Feb. 19, 2009) The Texas Perspective on Arbitration of Attorney/Client Disputes (Feb. 4, 2009) Arbitrating With Your Client? (with paper by Dicky Hile) (Jul. 28, 2008) Technorati Tags: ADR, law, arbitration