The Red Velvet Lawyer

My Facebook feed keeps showing me photos from a year ago: My first day in Qatar on August 15, 2015, jet lag clearly present. My shopping trips with friends as I began housekeeping in my Porto Arabia Tower apartment. Delicious meals at the restaurants featuring a wide variety of international foods. The onboarding process at Qatar University for new faculty. Steamy nights exploring the souk. Some sight-seeing trips in the blistering evening heat. Exploring fancy spas. Morning walks on the harbor with West Bay skyscrapers visible in the distance. Dressing up for the law school's reception at the Ritz Carlton. I am happy and curious in all these photos.  I look at those photos and feel grateful that I am through that demanding transition process.  Doha is now thoroughly my home.  I have a new apartment in Qanat Quatier, a...

 Peace Be With Us All This article , Principles and Practices of Peace and Conflict Resolution in Islam , provides a very interesting synthesis of the role peace plays in the Muslim community.  It also discusses the role of conflict resolution in Muslim cultures, with a focus on Morocco. The author, Claudia Maffettone is a conflict resolution practitioner and a certified mediator. She trained the New York Peace Institute, Harvard Law School, the New York City Bar, Soliya and the International Institute for Restorative Practices. I have suggested that she present this synthesis at the next conference of the ABA Section on Dispute Resolution.  I think my colleagues would find it valuable.  

Another New Tribe Part of my transition as a new resident of the Arabian Gulf region involves finding new tribes to join and help lead.   In March 2016 , I talked about the ADR tribes that I’ve found in Dubai and Doha.  I found another tribe that reflects my new place in the world. At the end of May, I attended the Global Legal Skills Conference in Verona, Italy at the University of Verona's Facolta Giurisprudenza.  Last year, I attended this conference for the first time.  I came back for the reason that the folks organizing and attending this conference are highly dedicated professors of law from all over the world who want to learn how better to teach law across cultures and across languages.    In other words, they are process people – my type of people.  Mediators often say that if the process is good, the outcome will be just fine, too.   So, if we continue to explore skillful ways of teaching student...

Back in the Middle with You:  Re-Joining my U.S. ADR Tribe In early April 2016, after a gap of several years, I finally joined an old tribe of ADR scholars, trainers, and practitioners at the annual conference, this year in New York, sponsored by the American Bar Association’s Section of Dispute Resolution . This ABA tribe claims my heart. These are great folks doing interesting and world-altering work. I love being among them. In my last post , I talked about several new tribes that reflect my transition to a new life in Doha, Qatar as a law professor. My new Arabian Gulf ADR tribes are important to my desire to scale-up my ADR practice and training. Yet, the anchor for my work has always been my old ABA tribe. I have tried to serve it in several ways: Member, Standing Committee on Ethical Guidance for Mediators (2006-2011). Co-Chair, Mediator Ethical Opinions Database Sub-Committee of the Standing Committee on Ethical Guidance for Mediators ...

Building the  ADR Tribe Seth Godin's book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (2014),  has played a big role in my thinking and behavior since I read it shortly after its publication.  Amazon describes the theme of the book as:  A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have joined tribes . . . . It’s our nature. Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger and enabling new tribes to be born―groups of ten or ten million who care about a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming. Who is going to lead all these tribes? . . . . Anyone who wants to make a difference now has the tools at their fingertips. Tribes will make you think (really think) about the opportunities for leading your fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists,...

Groundhog Day as an Analogy This week, I taught my Qatari students the difference between Common Law and Civil Law systems.  As I heard myself explain the major differences, I found myself wondering which system might be "better." In doing the research for the class, I learned that the civil law system has the widest application worldwide.  About 150 countries have adopted it.  Born in Europe and derived from Roman law, it found its most famous expression in the Napoleonic Code of France.  The idea behind it is simple.  The code organizes the law in a small book, easily accessible by the common man, who then knows with much greater clarity his or her legal rights and the procedures required to enforce those rights.  That citizen does not need to review -- at least in theory -- any case that has applied a particular section of the code.  Instead, the code serves as the primary authority and judges applying it are not bound by legal prece...

Growth Sucks! "We were hoping the college would drop the requirement. That's why we waited so long to take the course."  So said a candid senior student this past week. I teach Legal Research and Writing 1 at Qatar University College of Law.  Even in the U.S. students find the course challenging.  It forces them to grow in ways they resist.  And, it's a lot of work! No passive learning in this course.  Students produce a Memorandum of Law over the course of the semester. And learn critical thinking skills. So, the course is hard even for native English speakers.  But here, in Doha, I am teaching Arab students who take the course in English. Some students have very good English language skills, even if they are not so confident about them. Some students read at about a fourth grade level.  My job is to help them engage in very sophisticated legal thinking while they read and write in English. Why English!  Many of my student ...