In Memoriam of Hon. Joseph M. McLaughlin

Constantine Katsoris is the Wilkinson Professor of Law at the Fordham University School of Law. He delivered these remarks as part of a tribute to the Honorable Joseph M. McLaughlin on February 4, 2014, at Fordham Law School

Does Nationality Influence Neutrality? The Ethical Standards and Expectations of International Mediators

This Comment examines how a mediator’s nationality can influence the mediating parties’ and communities’ perceptions of his neutrality and how cultural differences play a role in the ethical expectations of a cross-cultural mediator. Part I discusses the role of neutrality in cross-cultural mediation and how neutrality is required and interpreted by codified ethical standards for mediators in the United States and in several international organizations. Part II discusses the role of culture in mediation, how culture influences ethical expectations, and the case studies of George Mitchell, a mediator in Ireland and Israel-Palestine, and Lakhdar Brahimi, a mediator in Syria. Mitchell and Brahimi are examples of mediators who worked with cultures that had different ethical expectations of the mediator’s role than they were accustomed to in their respective cultures. They both resigned in frustration and experienced great difficulty and public ridicule during their terms. Part III analyzes Mitchell and Brahimi’s trials and failures in their mediations, and provides suggestions for mediators involved in cross-cultural mediations. Through this analysis this Comment clarifies the role of neutrality in mediation and how a mediator’s nationality influences how mediating parties and their communities perceive his neutrality

Representation of Parties in Arbitration By Non-Attorneys

The issue of the representation of clients in legal or quasi legal proceedings by non-attorneys has been a troubling one. Not only are such services being offered by non-attorneys in the form of transactional services, i.e., advising, drafting deeds and documents, etc., but has spread to actual representation of parties before administrative agencies. Moreover, as more and more disputes are being resolved through alternative dispute mechanisms, such as arbitration, non-attorneys are also representing clients in such proceedings in civil litigation-often involving complex issues and significant sums of money-against other litigants who are usually represented by skilled attorneys. The ABA recently released a Discussion Draft for Comment regarding the extent to which non-lawyers were involved in these proceedings. The draft notes that in certain areas, the amount of legal oversight is sufficient to ensure competence, where in other areas it is in not. The Securities Industry Conference on Arbitration has examined this issue at length and released the report that follows

The New York Tax Windfall

With the enactment of the 1986 Internal Revenue Code and its elimination of many tax deductions, the scope of what is now considered taxable income has been greatly broadened. New York State, the State with the highest average per-person income tax levy in the country, because it generally follows the federal definitions of what is considered taxable income stands to reap an enormous tax windfall in the coming years due to the federal definitional change as to what is considered taxable income. This Article discusses the two major plans being considered as what to do with the expected windfall. It reviews New York State Governor Mario Cuomo\u27s plan and the plan of the New York State Senate Republican majority. It advocates for the Republican plan as it is broader in scope and proposes to save New Yorker\u27s more money. The Article insists that in order for New York to continue attracting business at a high level and avoid having its residents move to other states at even more alarming rates, it is imperative that its taxpayers be given the benefits of the expected windfall in the form of reduced taxes