Many courts across the country are essentially closed to class action litigants during this pandemic. The court closures result in a stalemate of critical disputed motions and perpetual uncertainty, but continued legal bills for the parties and carriers.
Some courts are commenting on the magnitude of the health crisis and its
impact on litigation, and encouraging litigants, particularly in complex
litigation, to turn to alternative dispute resolution as a valuable
resource.[1] Other courts, however, are all or partially dark, removing any
chance of an impetus from the court to get settlement talks going. This
circumstance may present a window for class action litigants to raise
mediation as an option where they otherwise would be concerned about the signal it was
sending to the other side. Continue Reading
Greg is joining Phillips ADR after a 40-year career litigating high-stakes securities class actions, fiduciary duty cases, and complex commercial disputes in federal, state and bankruptcy courts. After clerking for John Cannella in the SDNY, Greg joined Kramer Levin, where he became a partner in 1981. At Kramer he litigated numerous hostile takeover battles in the 70’s and 80’s, often on the side of the raider.
Robert Henry is a former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 1994. Judge Henry served in that position for 16 years, the last two as Chief Judge. He has written over 750 decisions.
The newest member of the Phillips ADR Enterprises (“PADRE”) team, David M. Murphy, joined PADRE’s group of independent panelists in 2017 and is available both as a mediator and arbitrator.