Supreme Court Hands Arbitrators the Keys to the Class Action
August 01, 2003
A plurality of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an arbitrator must decide whether class action arbitration in a consumer action is authorized. <i>Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Bazzle</i>, 123 S.Ct. 2402, (June 23, 2003). Four Justices concluded that whether or not the contracts forbid class arbitration is a disputed issue of contract interpretation and that such a dispute must be decided by an arbitrator. Justice Stevens concurred in the judgment.
A New York Perspective on Workplace 'Spam'
August 01, 2003
When employees lose their jobs, bitterness may breed revenge - revenge that goes well beyond the pilfering of pens on the way out. Disgruntled former employees have been known to defame the company to its clients, offer inside information to competitors, and initiate frivolous litigation, all at great cost to their former employers. But there is another problem that may be on the rise: spam, the Internet's version of junk mail.
Freeing Severely Abused Children Just Got Easier
August 01, 2003
<b><i>ASFA Can Be Retroactive, Says Judge</i></b> In a decision issued July 2 in a case of first impression, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye of the Court of Appeals interpreted the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), enacted in February 1999, to find that it can be applied retroactively to expedite the placement of severely abused children and their siblings.
The Guardian <i>Ad Litem</i> As Mediator
August 01, 2003
In the high-conflict divorce, try as it may, a court has little to offer minor children caught in Mom and Dad's crossfire. Regrettably, in many, if not most, instances, the more resources directed toward high conflict divorces, the more opportunity for escalating the conflict, unintended though it may be. One of the reasons for this entrenching of positions seems to be the identification of a specific role with its concomitant stance for everyone involved.
Should Forensic Psychologists Make Custody Recommendations?
August 01, 2003
<b><i>Part One of a Two-Part Article.</i></b> Forensic psychological assessments are often pivotal documents that can have a dramatic effect on the trajectory of a contested custody dispute and, ultimately, on the path a particular child's life will take post disposition. Forensic reports arrive in court as documents that represent the application of a behavioral "science" and there is therefore a common expectation that the recommendations will be weighted heavily because they will go beyond common public knowledge or subjective value choices.
