Healthcare Neutral ADR Blog : New Jersey Healthcare ADR Lawyer & Attorney : Healthcare Neutral : Richard Webb : New York Metropolitan Area

     Before you head off for the long Thanksgiving weekend, consider signing up for a teleconference to be held next Tuesday that you might otherwise miss in the post holiday crush.  The American Health Lawyers Association ("AHLA"), through its ADR Task Force, is offering "A Practical Toolkit for Managing Healthcare Conflict" from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 2, 2008.  You can read the full description of the program and sign up on the AHLA's website.  It is open to AHLA members and non-members.

      Presumably, the teleconference will be based on the "Practical Toolkit for Managing Healthcare Conflict" just published by the AHLA, which is available as a PDF on the AHLA website.  This document is a good summary of the need for conflict management in the healthcare (particularly hospital) setting, and provides a framework for hospital management to approach conflict management comprehensively.  It also addresses the specific requirements for internal hospital conflict resolution processes mandated by the Joint Commission.

     No doubt the current economic crisis affecting hospitals in New Jersey and throughout the country  will only make conflict more prevalent and important to manage.  It will be interesting to see whether some of the suggestions made in the AHLA's toolkit, which will carry a new and significant price tag, will gain traction.  I believe what they say about "an ounce of prevention" applies here, but those with the checkbooks may need more convincing. 

     Joining in to hear this program would be a step in the right direction.

[Image: A toolbox, by Per Erik Standberg, May 13, 2006] 

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     Legal periodicals these days are filled with stories about the effects of the current economic downturn on the legal profession.  Some offer dire predictions, while others see a cloud with a silver lining.  The American Bar Association wants to feel the pulse of its members on this issue and share the result of its efforts.  You can go to the poll being conducted for the ABA by Survey Monkey to participate.  Paste this into your browser bar to participate: 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=9Dhw2g7bX_2bxfq4mW8eB1Cg_3d_3d

     Tear yourself away from watching your 401(k) and give this poll about two minutes of your time.  I did, and it made me feel better.

[Image: Fishing net, by Goddard Spaceflight Center Sport Fishing Club, May 15, 2003]

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     Fellow mediator and blogger Nancy Hudgins points out a great site to explore on this day in honor of those who serve in our nation's military.  "Any Soldier Dot Com" will give you the address of a soldier to whom you can send a "care package" of your creation.  Nancy details her own experience in sending such packages, and reminds us that it really doesn't take much to make a big difference in the lives of those who serve.

     I saw Nancy's post just as I read of the efforts of two New Jersey dentists (and friends of mine), Ed Johnson and his daughter, Katelin Johnson. Ed and Katelin conduct an annual drive to buy up the Halloween candy collected by local kids and send it to our troops. The price paid is $1 per pound, and this year their package is expected to exceed 400 pounds.  It will be sent to a local soldier serving in Afghanistan for further distribution there.  The Johnsons pay for the candy and the costs of packaging and shipping.

     Whatever you may feel about our nation's involvement in any given conflict, efforts like these bring to mind that "supporting the troops" can take many forms.  Spread the word.

[Image: Joseph Ambrose, an 86 year-old World War I veteran, attends the dedication day parade for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982.  He is holding the flag that covered the casket of his son, who was killed in the Korean War]

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       I wrote here previously about the options faced by healthcare lawyers considering the use of an arbitration agreement following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. v. Mattell, Inc.  As I saw it then, the decision in Hall Street requires counsel to decide what it is about the arbitration process that would cause them to choose arbitration in the first place.  It seemed to me that those who wanted the best of all worlds (i.e., the scope of authority, speed and finality of traditional arbitration and the legal safety net of enhanced judicial review), probably could not have it all.  I just read an article that addresses this point in far greater detail in the context of  cases arising under the New Jersey Arbitration Act.

       In "Law And More: Enforced Arbitration With Enhanced Judicial Review" (New Jersey Lawyer News online, November 1, 2008), attorney Christopher Walsh of the Gibbons firm presents a thoughtful analysis of the issues faced by New Jersey counsel in enforcing an arbitration provision calling for expanded judicial review, even though the New Jersey Arbitration Act allows the parties to select this option.  He focuses on the ambiguity of the Hall Street decision itself, the potential preemption of the New Jersey Arbitration Act, the effects of a removal of a state court vacatur proceeding to federal court, and the use of a choice of law provision to insulate the a desired application of the New Jersey Arbitration Act.

       Although I remain struck by the incongruity of using arbitration subject to "enhanced judicial review," this is clearly a path some parties and their counsel will want to follow.  In New Jersey, Christopher Walsh's article is a good place to begin. 

    [Image: Lesser Ury: Leser mit Lupe, c. 1895]

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