November 2023 MBR The Judicial Studies Shelf

The Judicial Studies Shelf

Judicial Dispute Resolution
Lawrence Susskind, author
Justice William Tilleman, author
Nicolas Parra Herrera, author
Anthem Press
www.anthempress.com
9781839988660, $110.00, HC, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Judicial-Dispute-Resolution-Ensuring-Justice/dp/1839988665

Synopsis: "Judicial Dispute Resolution: New Roles for Judges in Ensuring Justice" describes the ways in which judges, using JDR (Judicial Dispute Resolution), have been facilitating problem-solving among litigants, and in the process, ensuring more just outcomes. JDR is similar to mediation ADR (alternative dispute resolution), but it is provided by a judge, not a private mediator.

Very little has been written about JDR, especially in Canada where it has been pioneered for several decades, because all the records have remained confidential. The story can now be told because the co-authors Susskind, Tilleman, and Para-Herrera were given exclusive access to the records and the parties (including the JDR judges) in nine illustrative cases.

The three co-authors also have collaborated to provide a complete Teaching Appendix summarizing the JDR cases from the standpoint of a variety of legal specialties, while highlighting the differences between JDR and ADR.

Critique: Informative enhanced for readers with an interest in the Canadian and American judicial systems, "Judicial Dispute Resolution: New Roles for Judges in Ensuring Justice" features nine Case Studies, an eight page Bibliography, a two page Appendix, a two page
Teaching Guide. While also available for students, academia, members of the legal profession, and judicial reform activists in a paperback edition (9781839988981, $29.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $28.45), "Judicial Dispute Resolution: New Roles for Judges in Ensuring Justice" is especially recommended for college and university Judicial Studies collections and supplemental Arbitration/Negotiation/Mediation law school curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note #1: Lawrence Susskind is Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Co-founder and Vice Chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and Founder and Chief Knowledge Officer of the Consensus Building Institute.

Editorial Note #2: William A. Tilleman, LL.B., J.D., LL.M, S.J.D., is federally appointed judge (2009 - 2021) and Chamberlain Fellow in Legislation, Columbia University.

Editorial Note #3: Nicolas Parra-Herrera is S.J.D. candidate at Harvard Law School, Graduate Fellow at the Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School, and Visiting Professor at Universidad de los Andes (Colombia).

Milestone Documents of the Supreme Court: Exploring the Cases That Shaped America
Edited by Paul Finkelman
Schlager Group Inc.
https://www.schlagergroup.com
9781935306863, $395 (print); $365 (ebook)

https://www.schlagergroup.com/9781935306863/milestone-documents-of-the-supreme-court

Editor Paul Finkelman has extensive legal expertise, being a William McKinley Distinguished Professor and Emeritus at Albany Law School, among many other experiences. His editorial eye in Milestone Documents of the Supreme Court: Exploring the Cases That Shaped America thus lends to a reference that is expansive, authoritative, and should be a mainstay in any American history, civics, or social and political studies collection. The cases selected for feature here include the earliest from the beginning of America's republic to modern-day decisions about reproductive and human rights issues.

Each of the 81 critical decisions profiled includes an overview and context discussion, in-depth background history about its author, an equally authoritative analysis of the document and its impact, and a concluding bibliography of references for further reading about the case. Law students will find this attention to detail particularly well done, as each case receives exhaustive analysis and insights on its influences from all arenas, from political and social pressures to legal precedent and judicial interpretations of the provisions and special circumstances of each. Between arguments and acknowledgments to contrasting sides in each case, discussions probe both the legal and political impact of these milestone Supreme Court decisions, enlightening readers about the process of debate and consideration that the Court maintains as it oversees and cements the law of the land.

Readers will gain solid insights not only into each particular case, but how legal interpretations are formed, argued, and made into law in this country. This furthers Milestone Documents of the Supreme Court's intrinsic importance as not just a history, but an examination worthy of classroom debate and discussion. Library collections strong in American history, law, and political analysis will find Milestone Documents of the Supreme Court: Exploring the Cases That Shaped America a key to better understanding America's rule of law and how it is reinforced, interpreted, and guided. Very highly recommended, Milestone Documents of the Supreme Court: Exploring the Cases That Shaped America ideally will become a lively point of discourse for a wide range of purposes, from book clubs and American history groups to legal students and anyone interested in the letter of American law.

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