A recent bill related to ADR has been filed by the 81st Texas Legislature. H.B. 2139, authored by Rep. McClendon, would establish a victim-offender pretrial mediation program for first time offenders. Status: Left pending in committee on 03/19/2009. Technorati Tags: arbitration, ADR, law, Mediation,

Need CLE credits? The Dispute Resolution Section of the ABA will be hosting its 11th Annual Spring Conference next month. The Conference brochure is here and online registration is here.

The following bills related to Alternative Dispute Resolution have been introduced recently by the 111st. Congress. H.R. 1214. Filed by Rep. Gutierrez, (D-IL) this bill, titled “Payday Loan Reform Act of 2009,” would amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish additional payday loan requirements to protect consumers. This bill, among other things, prohibits a mandatory arbitration clause that is “oppressive, unfair, unconscionable, or substantially in derogation of the rights of consumers.” Status: referred to the house Committee on Financial Services on 02/26/2009. S. 512. Filed by Sen. Martinez (R-FL) this bill, titled “Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2009,” would prohibit arbitration agreements in nursing home contracts. Status: referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on 03/03/2009. S. 560. Filed by Sen. Kennedy (D-MA), this bill, titled “Employee Free Choice Act of 2009,” would amend the National Labor Relations Act to require first mediation and then binding arbitration if both parties are unable to reach an agreement within certain time frame. Status: referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on 03/10/2009. H.R. 1409. Filed by Rep. Miller (D-CA), this bill is similar to S. 560. Status: referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor on 03/10/2009. Technorati Tags: arbitration, ADR, law, Payday Loan Reform Act of 2009, Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2009, Employee Free Choice Act of 2009

If you haven’t had enough of the AIG bonuses controversy, here is a post by Andis Kaulins from the LawPundit discussing the legal theory of unconscionability applied to the AIG employment contracts. We were surprised to learn that the standard AIG Employee Retention Plan (Bonus Contract) posted here by The New York Times contains no arbitration clauses. Also, here is a recent post from the ABA Law Journal. And here is yet another article from the American Lawyer about AIG’s counsel advise on the bonus legal obligations. It took us a while to blog on this story because at Disputing, like President Obama, we like to know what we are talking about before we speak… Technorati Tags: Arbitration, ADR, Law, AIG Bonus Contract,