Author Archives: abfifer

Altared Expectations

July 23, 2013 – 9:22 pm

Altared Expectations The ABA Journal has an article in this month’s edition about lawsuits against churches, entitled “Altared Expectations.” It notes that there was a time when lawsuits against churches were incomprehensible. I think this came from both sides: parties didn’t think of bringing legal actions against churches, and courts did not entertain them even […]

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On Compelling People Into Arbitration

June 28, 2013 – 10:22 am

Courts compel people into arbitration by enforcing arbitration clauses in contracts. Parties to the contract may argue that they didn’t know about the clause, or that circumstances have changed, but typically a contract provision calling for arbitration will be enforced. Even if the validity of the contract itself is in dispute, courts reason that parties […]

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Peacemaking in East Asia

May 23, 2013 – 8:55 pm

The elder board complains that the senior pastor seeks their input, then ignores their advice and does whatever he wants to do. A wife complains constantly about her husband; the husband rarely attends church anymore, and made excuses when the elders called him. A manager isn’t sure how to discipline a Christian employee who is […]

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Should Mediators Speak to the Media?

April 16, 2013 – 2:49 pm

The parents of Adam Lanza, the young man responsible for the Sandy Hook murders, were divorced in 2009, after mediation. After the massacre last December, reporters tracked down the mediator, Paula Levy, and apparently asked her some questions. She was willing to answer them, at least generally. What is a mediator’s obligation to preserve confidentiality […]

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President Obama, Mediator

April 9, 2013 – 4:14 pm

There was another apology in the news a couple weeks ago: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized on March 22 to Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a 2010 raid on a Turkish flotilla that killed 8 Turks. Any apology is news, but of even more interest to peacemakers is the fact that this was […]

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