Author Archives: abfifer

Former Alameda CEO Apologizes

December 24, 2022 – 1:37 pm

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, the crypto-trading firm connected with FTX, issued an apology when she plead guilty to fraud and other offenses in a New York federal court this week. There was no public notice of the hearing, but a transcript was released yesterday. She agreed to cooperate with the government’s […]

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Mediation Tragedy

December 23, 2022 – 12:42 pm

Reports of violence associated with mediations are rare, but they do happen.  One occurred this week in Goldsboro, NC, where a client shot and killed his lawyer at the end of the mediation, then killed himself. While details of the mediation itself are sketchy, reports are that a personal injury mediation was taking place at […]

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More Litigation About Mediation

December 1, 2022 – 4:29 pm

One of the most interesting mediation articles I’ve read was called “Disputing Irony” by Prof. James Coben, 11 Harvard Neg. L. Rev. 43, 98 (2006). He and his team at Hamline Law School surveyed all the U.S. appellate court cases, state and federal, 1999-2003, that mentioned “mediation,” to see why cases that should have ended […]

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Disclosure Could Become Mandatory

November 14, 2022 – 5:06 pm

In response to a growing scandal, the state of California is considering mandatory disclosure of past relationships by mediators and arbitrators. The scandal involves a Los Angeles attorney named Tom Girardi who worked for years with “private judges” in administering mass tort cases while diverting funds to himself. An LA Times investigation suggests millions of […]

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Apologies from Tech Leaders This Week

November 12, 2022 – 9:08 am

The Wall Street Journal yesterday compiled apologies offered this week from leaders of several tech firms as they announced staffing cuts (“Tech Founders Apologize for Growing Too Fast”). “I got this wrong and I take responsibility for that.” Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook parent Meta Platforms, announcing that it would cut 11,000 workers. “I grew […]

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