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

Ending the Siege of Qatar At a Heritage Foundation event on January 29, 2017, Qatari Minister of State for Defense Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah declared: “The only person who can solve the GCC issue is President Trump . . . . He can solve it in a phone call.” U.S.-Qatari Military-to-Military Relations, The Heritage Foundation (Jan. 29, 2018), https://www.heritage.org/defense/event/us-qatari-military-military-relations (statement at about 43 minutes in audio recording). Based on my research, I agree.  I am in the process of writing an article entitled:   "The Siege of Qatar: Applying Dispute Resolution System Design Theory to Actions Taken by the Disputing Parties in the First Nine Months of the Siege."  I will let you know when it is published.  Anyone wanting a copy of the manuscript should send me an email.

Web Tools  That Make  the Negotiation Easier After graduating from law school and joining the largest law firm in Oklahoma, I bought my first new car.  It was a Toyota Camry.  Beforehand, I thoroughly read and applied the advice found in a book on buying a new car.   Today, the web puts you a few clicks away from very good advice on the subject.  This morning, I found this site offered by CNN Money on Tips for Buying a New Car .  It offered advice on a number of topics: Buying the right car Determining your car budget Buy ing a new or used car Should you buy or lease a new vehicle Shopping for car loans and credit Setting your target car price Negotiating   a car deal Closing the deal on a new car More vehicle negotiation options The page on setting your target price was especially helpful. It cited sources of objective criteria that  equalize the negotiating power of the parties.  First, it gives you links to online sources that provide three piece

Reason for My Preference for Used SUVs? Last week, as I pondered where this series was headed, I asked my Dad to describe all the cars he had owned in his life.  The three things that his description made clear was this.  First, the cars were often used. Second, they were always very utilitarian. They hauled people and things.  Third, my parents drove them into the ground before they bought something new (or newer). So, here's my Dad's narrative. Photos show model and style, but not necessarily the color of his cars.  The Single Guy's Car Okay, before I was married, I had a [used] 1938 Chevy that I had overhauled professionally then salvaged replacement fenders and a steering gear from the local junkyard and installed them myself.  I paid good money for a sun visor that mounted above the window on the outside.  Of course, the fenders did not match the body so I used a brush and exterior paint to paint the whole damn thing brush-streaked black.  If I was not perceiv

The Beloved Bug Which brings me to the mindset limitations I've had to face about cars.   My parents started married life driving a new VW bug.  It may have been one of the first imports to the U.S., which seem to have started in about 1956, two years after my birth.  It was beige with a beige interior.    I drove it as a teenager.  The battery sat on the back floor on the driver's side. Eventually, the floor rusted out. One day, as I was driving the bug to high school, the battery fell out on the street. Undaunted, my Dad cut a piece of shelving board long and wide enough to cover the hole in the floor, and I continued to drive the car until I left for college.   I earned a reputation for two things while driving that car.  I learned to back up long distances. (Perhaps this is one reason I find the rear-collision inducing design of the cross-over styling so irksome. It makes me a less proficient back-up driver!)   And, being even a distracted driver then, I'd

You Betcha!   Not so Much. On the morning of July 4th, I headed to the Tri-Cities Mazda dealership. Shelly Fair, "Sales Consultant," saw me in the lot, walked out of the building, and greeted me with a warm smile and handshake.  She established rapport quickly, but gently, asking about my interests and needs.  Which car did I find attractive? Why?  What needs was I trying to meet? Interest and Needs Most cars today are well-built, well-designed, high-functioning pieces of technology. Even the more poorly rated vehicles would be just fine to own and drive. So, choosing a car requires focus on the attributes and features that, frankly, fall in what I'd call "lifestyle choices." Surprisingly, I was looking to downsize from a 6-cylinder to a 4-cylinder engine.   Recently, I got my fifth speeding ticket. After I was no longer "madder than a wet hen," it occurred to me that I had gotten every darn one of them since I bought the zi

Bargaining Between  Sophisticated Negotiators I've decided to replace my 2005 Nissan Murano with a newer model, used car.  I applied all the rules of interest-based and distributive bargaining that I teach in my course.  I plan to blog about the experience over the next several days.  Background: People hate shopping for cars.  We are not a "haggle" culture.  It's the reason that Saturn's "no-dicker-sticker" proved to be such a popular selling technique.   Studies show that U.S. buyers tolerate about 3 or 4 rounds of bargaining.  In contrast, people living in haggling cultures will engage in 10 to 15 rounds of bargaining.  Guess who typically gets the better deal? Because we lack experience in bargaining for small things like food and clothing, bargaining for an expensive car brings great anxiety to most people in the U.S. But, I teach negotiation.  In fact, I am one of the very few law professors in the U.S. to teach how

Culture  and the  Length of the Negotiation Dance Culture can dictate the length of the negotiation dance by determining the number of rounds of concessions and the amount of each expected concession. In cultures in which the parties expect more haggling, parties will make 12-15 offers/counter-offers.  A clip from   Montey Python's Life of Brian , starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, illustrates haggling in a way we'd expect from this group. Brian Cohen, played by Chapman, is trying to escape the pursuit of Roman Centurions by buying a beard as a disguise.  The frightened consumer, however, cannot buy it at the sticker price.  He is forced to haggle.   In sharp contrast , a U.S. consumer has a low tolerance for the negotiation dance.  He or she t ypically will make only 2 or 3 rounds of offers.   As a result, U.S. negotiators: Avoid negotiation, in general, by paying posted prices

In Nearly ALL Situations, Don't Accept the First Offer. Duh! Defending Your Life focuses on a transition stage in which recently dead folks must show to a panel of after-life judges that they have lived full and fearless lives.  If they fail at this proof, they must return to earth and try again. Meryl Streep appears with Albert Brooks who wrote, directed, and starred in the film. I use a clip that shows Daniel Miller, played by Brooks, negotiating for his salary at a new job.  He has died suddenly when his car hits a bus head-on. Examples from his life, including the salary negotiation, increasingly show his fear.  In this clip, he begs his wife to practice with him the night before the salary negotiation, and then, he abandons the approach he had practiced. The clip allows me to discuss the gravitational pull of opening offers, who should open first, appropriate concession patterns, and leverage derived from your BATNA.   

The Pace of the Negotiation "Dance"  and  the "Nibble" Technique Fargo , a Joel and Ethan Coen creation, follows the escalating chaos set in play by Jerry Lundergaard's effort to extort money from his father-in-law through the planned kidnapping of Lundergaard's hapless wife. Lundergaard, a car salesman at his father-in-law's dealership, has been making ends meet by falsifying records to inflate his car sales.  Now, he plans to close the financial gap by getting money out of his bullying father-in-law.   William H. Macy plays Lundergaard.  Francis McDormand plays the pregnant sheriff in pursuit of the bungling kidnapper, played by Steve Buscemi.   Close to the time the Coen's show us Lundergaard's mounting financial problems, Lundergaard completes the sale of a car to a couple caught in a negotiation they thought had ended long before they returned to Lundergaard's office for the keys to their new

From the February 21, 2014 ABA online newsletter: Question of the Week We want to hear from you. Have you ever had a law prof use TV or film to illustrate a concept? Image from  Shutterstock . On a recent snowy  Friday  when only five students could make it to class, Appalachian School of Law professor Paula Marie Young decided that she would screen a long excerpt from the the film  The Negotiator . "It illustrates so many concepts I discuss in my courses," Young wrote at her blog,  The Red Velvet Lawyer . Young teaches certified civil mediation and dispute resolution. There's also a TV series Young likes for this purpose: "I could create an entire course based on the negotiation tactics Francis Underwood uses in House of Cards ," she wrote in a short subsequent post. "My idea. Don't steal it, please." Using a fictional dramas to teach law students isn't unheard of: A William & Mary law professor created a textbook and

The Francis University of Negotiation Skills and Tactics I could create an entire course based on the negotiation tactics Francis Underwood uses in House of Cards . I could call it "Francis University" and give each graduate a pair of cuff links bearing the initials for the name of course.  My idea.  Don't steal it, please. 

It is Always More Fun to Negotiate with Someone who Knows What He or She is Doing! So, you know I'm a big fan of Kevin Spacey .  Add to the list: Sam Jackson and Denzel Washington. Students who have taken my courses know that these actors appear in a number of the film clips I use to illustrate negotiation and mediation concepts and skills. Friday, I held a make-up class one day after a snow storm dumped 8 to 10 inches of snow on Buchanan County.  Up in the "hollers," the snow coverage could have been much deeper.  Our road crews do an amazing job of keeping our roads passable, but it takes time to clear all those roads at higher altitudes. Not surprisingly, only five of eighteen students made it to class. One had to walk. So, I decided that we would watch a long excerpt from the the film, The Negotiator , starring Sam Jackson, as Danny Roman, and Kevin Spacey, as Chris Sabian. They are both experienced, successful Chicago police department host

The Appalachian School of Law is the first, and so far, the only law school founded with a focus on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). ASL’s dispute resolution curriculum is unique in several ways. Students get advanced training in negotiation mediation, arbitration, early neutral evaluation, group facilitation, consensus building, and dispute resolution system design. 2L Dispute Resolution  Survey Course First, only nineteen law schools, including ASL, require all their students to take an ADR survey class. The curriculum reflects the realities of lawyering in an era of the so-called  “ Vanishing Trial ."     The course provides students with basic interest-based negotiation skills. It also introduces them to the role of advocate in several ADR processes, especially mediation.    Research shows that ASL students who take only the required survey course have more training in ADR than most practicing attorneys. This training creates more employment oppo