Book Review

Book Review of "Mediating Legal Disputes: Effective Strategies for Lawyers and Mediators" by Dwight Golann (Aspen Law & Business).Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

Legislation - Future Interests - Extinguishment of Contingent Remainder Interests in the Unborn

Under the somewhat misleading title of An Act To Permit the Dissolution of Estates Tail and To Permit the Conveyance of Contingent Remainder Interest and To Provide Procedure Therefor, Arkansas has enacted legislation which partially revitalizes an ancient common law rule that other legislatures and courts have been trying to eliminate for some hundred and fifty years-the doctrine of the destructibility of contingent remainders. Arkansas\u27 Act 163 is thus unique among the modern statutes designed to increase the alienability of estates fettered with outstanding future interests

Probiotics for colic? A PURL update

In "Colicky baby? Here's a surprising remedy" (J Fam Pract. 2011;60:34-36), we summarized a 2010 doubleblind randomized controlled trial (RC T) that found the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 reduced daily crying time in colicky, exclusively breastfed infants. A recently published RC T of the same probiotic by Sung et al2 adds to the body of evidence and suggests that the jury may still be out as to the value of probiotics for colicky babies

Jury - Pre-Trial Selection - Suggested Improvements

Over the course of the past twenty years, the desirability of trial by jury has been a subject of constant debate. In contrast, the matter of jury selection has been given little direct attention. Yet it is obvious that if consideration is given to improvements in selection procedure aimed primarily at raising the calibre of the jury panel, disappointment in the judicial process due to the general ineptness of jurors can be decreased. It is true that the fate of a litigant often is entirely within the discretion of the jury. This is not necessarily a reason for the abandonment of trial by jury, however, but rather a reason for increased care in the selection of jurors. Although very few states employ identical methods of jury selection, in all states the procedures used are at least similar. Thus the deficiencies discovered in the process of pre-trial selection in one state may often be typical of faults attributable to the statutes governing this area in almost every other state. This comment, then, while designed primarily as a critical analysis of Michigan legislation, is intended as a possible basis for evaluation and reform of other state acts as well

Bush on Mediator Dilemmas

Despite its richness, I believe that there are three features of the study that raise both conceptual and practical difficulties. They are: (1) its methodology for identifying ethical dilemmas; (2) its presumptions regarding the extent to which public policy can or should address some or all of the mediator\u27s dilemmas; and (3) its applicability to mediator roles and dilemmas in contexts outside a court-referral system. I consider each of these features below