As readers may know, Section 1028(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) to “conduct a study of, and * * * provide a report to Congress concerning, the use of agreements providing for arbitration of any future dispute between covered persons and consumers in connection with the offering or providing of consumer financial products or services.” As a preliminary step, the CFPB is requesting is requesting comments from the public to help identify the scope of the Study. The request asks the public to submit comments by June 23, 2012. Find out more information here.

In Hand V. Walnut Valley Sailing Club, No. 11-3228 (10th Cir. April 4,2012) plaintiff is a former member of defendant sailing club. Soon after plaintiff complained that his storage shed at the club didn’t comply with the American with Disabilities Act, plaintiff’s membership to the club was revoked. In response, plaintiff filed suit in federal court. The court sent the parties to mediation. No settlement followed the mediation. Instead, plaintiff sent an email to at least forty-four club members (and others) relating all the details of the mediation. A written district court rule expressly required anyone involved in court-ordered mediation to keep all such information confidential. The club sought dismissal of the lawsuit as a sanction for violating mediation confidentiality and the district court agreed. The appellate court affirmed the district court’s judgment.

by Holly Hayes Shared decision-making in healthcare involves providers working with patients to determine the best course of action for their disease. We wrote about a New England Journal of Medicine article on this topic here . As a follow-up, Peter Ubel’s website on Health, Well-Being, Bioethics and Behavioral Economics has a link to an article titled “10 ways to make better decisions about cancer care.” It is a simple guide that breaks down the ways patient can participate in decisions regarding their care and better understand their options without getting overwhelmed. Also helpful is Dr. Ubel’s book “You’re Stronger Than you Think: Tapping the Secrets of Emotionally Resilient People.” He describes the book as follows: In this book, I explore the reasons why people frequently underestimate their emotional resilience in the face of adversity. People often believe that happiness is a matter of circumstance. That they would be miserable if they became seriously ill or disabled. In this book, I write about 5 people who have faced serious adversity and managed to thrive. I weave their stories together with discussion of the science of emotional resilience, with the hope that I can give people useful insights to help them understand what people do when faced with adversity. Shared decision-making can be enhanced by the use of conflict engagement skills in the healthcare setting. We welcome your thoughts on this topic. Holly Hayes is a mediator at Karl Bayer, Dispute Resolution Expert where she focuses on mediation of health care disputes. Holly holds a B.A. from Southern Methodist University and a Masters in Health Administration from Duke University. She can be reached at holly@karlbayer.com.

As discussed by the ADR Prof Blog, on May 3, the SEC approved the proposed rule change to amend FINRA’s Customer and Industry Codes of Arbitration Procedure to raise the limit for simplified arbitration from $25,000 to $50,000. The proposed rule change was published for comment in the Federal Register on February 28, 2011. The rule is available here and the approval order is here.