The Red Velvet Lawyer

1/16 An Analysis of Qatar’s Mediation Law No. 20 of 2021, Introduction On October 18, 2021, The Emir of the State of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, issued a mediation law ushering in the era of modern mediation in Qatar.    This law provides an important part of the “infrastructure” needed to expand the use of high-quality mediation services in the region.      Law No. 20 of 2021 has two parts: “On issuing the Mediation Law in Settlement of Civil and Commercial Disputes” (Article Nos. 1 to 4) and, “Mediation Law in Settlement of Civil and Commercial Disputes” (Article Nos. 1 to 33).  A copy of an unofficial English-language version of the law is available here .  An Arabic version of the law is available at www.almeezan.qa the legal portal for Qatari laws.   Over the next several weeks, I will analyze the law and assess its strengths and weaknesses.   I will focus first on: my expertise in analyzing mediation laws here , and providing a cultural disclaimer here . Next, I'll cover

The Last 18 Months: Transition Back to the US, Into Retirement, During a Pandemic In January 2021, Qatar University College of Law advised that it would apply the Qatari retirement cap of 65 years and not renew my contract.  QU had waved the retirement cap for two years.  Even so, the news made me very sad (and a bit angry).  I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Qatar and my job as a clinical professor of law teaching college-level law students.  I loved my expat friends, my students, and all of my QU faculty colleagues.   The news forced me to plan my move back to the US.  Before the pandemic started, I had planned to retire to Chiang Mai, Thailand, a northern university town, with an ancient moat, ring roads, and elephant rescue parks to the north in the mountains.    When the country closed its borders, I considered other countries that offered retirement visas without me having to return to the US to begin the process.  I looked at Malaysia and Ecuador, but the pandemic had slowed the v

The High-Risk of Aging Into Poverty or  Social Security is a Feminist Issue Over the last week, the two parties in the US tried to reach agreement about a relief package providing benefits during the pandemic that would help unemployed people buy food and other necessities and forestall evictions from housing .  When impasse in the negotiations continued,  Trump stepped in with several (potentially unlawful) executive orders providing some relief. However, he also gave employees and employees relief from payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare benefits for older people in the US. This week a Democratic campaign strategist, Paul Begala, discussed his book, You're Fired: The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump (Simon & Schuster 2020).  In an interview , he said that Democratic candidates should run on this messaging: the GOP wants to gut Social Security (SS), Medicare, and Medicaid, and abolish the Affordable Health Care Act during a pandemic.   This attack on

Phase 3 Re-Opening August 1, 2020 represents to significant events.  First, Phase 3 re-opening in Qatar is now in effect.  And the Muslim population is celebrating the Eid holiday.  Since July 19, 2020, new COVID-19 cases in Qatar have fallen below 400 cases per day.  The last time we saw new cases below 400 was March 14, 2020 .   Admissions to ICU have dropped to the single digits.  Deaths of one to three people a day continue, with a few days in which no one has lost his or her life.  Since July 23, 2020, people as young as 23 and as old as 91 have died.  But, the death toll remains quite low despite the very high numbers of reported infections per 1 million population  (39,571/1 mill. -- the highest in the world). By the end of July, the death toll stood at 174 .   Experts attribute these results to several factors : a younger population, good medical care, an aggressive testing program, a well-managed contact tracing program, significant compliance among residents with rules gove