I know where I went- the abyss of law school finals.  Only one more year to go.....

Congrats on conquering the abyss once more! 

Thanks!  Law school turns into such an odd place around finals time.

I read your Law Review note a while back and found it very interesting!  I read another of your posts where you talked about some of your other ideas; affirmative action and strict scrutiny, etc.  Be sure to post any further writings that you produce!
~~Elizabeth

Thanks!  I was just jotting down some ideas last night, seems like it may be time to put some things to paper.

Anything you're working on?

Hi everyone ~

I'm hoping there's still opportunity to contribute to this thread. I'm not sure what the etiquette is for posting something on a thread that hasn't been active in awhile, so I'll just respond and see what happens.

I've skimmed through this thread because I've wondered how people would conceptualize integral law. I'm really happy to see all the posts that pull in questions about where ADR and mediation fit into this issue because that seems to me to be a really important question.

In fact, I'm wondering if Integral Law is really a misnomer. Someone on this list was asking at one point what is law? One way to look at law is as a subset of the real category I think we're trying to look at, and I'd call that category Dispute Resolution or Conflict Resolution or something like that. If we broaden our perspective in this way, can't we find our way onto the AQAL map quite easily and elegantly? I'm still a novice at AQAL, so I can't lay all of this out, but couldn't we look at conflict resolution options like physical violence, verbal violence, neglect, rights-based communication, interest-based communication, etc. and put them on the map? And maybe I've picked the wrong terms here... that would be an interesting question.... how about the competing/avoiding/accomodating/compromising/collaborating model from Thomas-Kilman? Anyway, you get the idea. Maybe instead of talking about Integral Law it would be more helpful to talk about Integral Conflict Resolution as a line of development, with law (or rights-based communication) reflecting a particular stage on that line of development.

I think mediation, for example, is a demonstrably higher stage of development because it incorporates much greater inclusion and care than does law. And law is demonstrably higher than vigilante justice or other forms of violence between individuals.

Perhaps all of this is going in another direction, but I just wanted to get that thought on the table.

Julie

Hi Julie,

Reading between the lines, it looks like you're thinking of 'law' as something like 'a set of rules enforced by the state.'  Then, you are of course right that 'law' would seem to be little more than a stage of development within a broader field of 'conflict resolution.'

I don't think that's the same definition of 'law' that I have, though.  I would think of 'law' as even broader than 'conflict resolution,' in fact; something like interwoven sets of 'norms' (social norms, but also economic norms, behavioral norms, etc.) plus sets of enforcement mechanisms (or encouragement mechanisms; I'm trying not to get caught up in the language).

Moreover, even sticking with 'law' as 'enforced rules,' I'm not sure it's demonstrably lower than, say, mediation.  Mediation is, as you identify, essentially a conflict-resolution mechanism that in some ways incorporates inclusion and care (though in other ways not, I would argue; depends on the mediation system in question, but it can tend to lack the discerning (stereotypically 'masculine') care in favor of ensuring that everybody is heard and feels justified, which can be better sometimes but definitely isn't always).  A skilled mediator might indeed be able to integrally resolve conflicts, but I seriously doubt that mediation could, for example, handle violent criminals, or desgregate the south.  I think an integral legal system would recognize that many situations call for telling one party they are required to do X no matter how much they don't want to, something mediation isn't designed to do.

Calling all integrally-informed people working in, with, or next to the legal system!

You're receiving this message because (1) you're connected to the legal system somehow, and  (2) you've expressed interest to someone, at some time, about integral theory.  In recent conversations, a few of us decided it was time to make a concerted effort to link all of us together, compiling our collective wisdom and making connections towards something greater.  Towards that end, you're receiving the first email to the integral lawyers group list.

At this point, I anticipate sending a group email once a month, listing points of interest, questions, and projects submitted over the previous month.  It shouldn't be too intrusive in your email inbox, but will hopefully keep us connected and growing.  I've also created a facebook group, which can be located by searching for "integral law" in facebook.

This won't work without all of our effort, though, and in particular, the following would be useful:

1) names and email addresses of other people connected to the legal system and interesting in integral
2) websites, articles, organizations, etc. of interest for integral law and integrally-informed lawyers
3) any current projects, questions, or other items you'd like forwarded to the group

Please send this information to this email address: integrallawyers{at}gmail.com.  I'll compile it on our facebook group website, and send recent updates in the monthly email.
 
We have a good start on all of this (for example, Prof. Mark Fischler has written articles on integral law; Lynne Feldman, Professor Fischler, and I have recorded some conversations on integral law topics; and recent Supreme Court and legislative activity is always good fodder), which I'll be adding to the facebook group website and compiling for next month's email.  More is wanted, of course.

Most importantly, we need names and email addresses, to link together the integral legal community that's already out there.  Please take a moment and send any contact information you have.

Thanks,
Chris