PREMi - Articles

News, Updates, & Resources

Due Process as a Component of Just Cause in Labor Arbitration

By Lee Hornberger Introduction This article will discuss how arbitrators, treatises, and courts have reviewed employer use of due process before imposing discipline on an employee under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The consensus is that employers should...

Professionalism in ADR-The Professional Mediation Advocate

By Michael S. Leib, Mediator and Arbitrator I have observed advocates and mediators who are the epitome of professionals. From them I’ve learned what professionalism looks like in the practice of ADR, whether as advocates or mediators. This article is about what ADR...

Civil Mediation with Pro-Se Parties

By William D. Gilbride Jr. Occasionally a Court will send over a civil case for facilitative mediation. The order arrives and names are reviewed for the purposes of conflict checks and disclosures. You may notice that one or more of the parties is not represented by...

Our Professionals

Laura A. Athens

9 PREMi Lawyers named SUPER LAWYERS

SUPER LAWYERS, a national publication that selects attorneys nominated by their peers, evaluated by third party research and reviewed by a highly credentialed blue-ribbon panel of attorneys has named nine PREMi members as SUPER LAWYERS. Those honored include: GENE...

Is There a Zoom Mediation in Your Future?

By Sheldon J. Stark – Mediator and Arbitrator During the state of emergency, courts have been working at less than full capacity. While no two courts are the same, none have conducted business as usual since mid-March, and there will likely be backlogs as a result....

Microaggressions in ADR: It is What It Is

Earlene R. Baggett-Hayes Writing articles on ADR is considered as one of the many opportunities for imparting information on specific ADR subjects, expanding tool kits for effective ADR performance, and embellishing one’s ADR career. Recently, in reviewing potential...

Video Conferencing and Narrative Witness Statements in Commercial Arbitration

Jerome F. Rock - As an Arbitrator, I have long encouraged the use of Narrative or Written Witness Statements as a vehicle for introducing the direct testimony of witnesses under the control of a party at the Arbitration Hearing. Responding to...

Online Dispute Resolution: YOU CAN DO THIS!

Robert E. L. Wright Online Dispute Resolution (“ODR”) may refer to any form of alternative dispute resolution conducted with the aid of a computer. Two in particular, mediation and arbitration, are proceeded by a variety of...

Alternative Dispute Resolution in a Virtual World Updated

Martin C. Weisman Well before the current pandemic crisis, I wrote an article entitled “Alternative Dispute Resolution in a Virtual World” published June 26, 2019 in the Detroit Legal News and reprinted with permission on the PREMI website (www.premiadr.com)....

What Factors to Consider When Selecting an Arbitrator

Martin Weisman In 2013, the American Arbitration Association amended its Commercial Rules and in 2014 the Michigan Legislature adopted the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act ("MCLA 691.1681, et seq.). These two new sets of rules increased the efficiency of the...

Mediating Pro Se Prisoner Civil Rights Cases: Mediator Strategy

Earlene R. Baggett-Hayes It is often said that effective mediators can mediate cases ranging from day-care center disputes to foreign affairs conflicts. Somewhere within that continuum of cases are conflicts brought by prisoners against prisons and other related...

Facilitating positive change in the workplace

Laura A. Athens Facilitation can be an invaluable tool to promote a positive work environment and prevent escalation of employment disputes. In contrast to mediation, which focuses on disputes that have reached an impasse or resulted in filing of a formal...