Course Overview

This course is a survey of dispute resolution and encompasses negotiation, mediation, collaborative law, and arbitration. The course will be taught online, though the skills taught in the course are easily transferrable to in-person dispute resolution. Some class time will consist of lectures, discussing the reading, and watching instructional videos. Most class time will be spent on group simulations which will include:

• A short arbitration/mediation exercise.
• Client counseling problems.
• Negotiation problems. Mediation problems
• Arbitration problems

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

1.  execute oral communication skills of a lawyer in negotiation and mediation;
2. implement the principles of ADR to solve client problems in an oral and written communication;
3.  apply the lawyering skills of fact investigation and development to client problems;
4. produce effective legal documents written for negotiation and mediation;
5.  recognize ethical dilemmas commonly arising in ADR;
6.  self-evaluate and reflect on lawyering skills in interviewing, negotiating, and mediating;
7.  understand the core principles and processes of arbitration, mediation, and negotiation; and
8.  both participate in and run an online negotiation, mediation, and arbitration hearing.

Attendance is required. Missing class may significantly disadvantage your teammates on group projects. The entire course is highly participatory – we will spend most of our class time working in groups to negotiate, mediate, and arbitrate disputes.

Your final grade will be based primarily on a combination of peer performance assessments on a series of simulations. These assessments will include the following “input” variables: effort, teamwork, ethical conduct, and effective judging. The assessments often also will include “output” skills-based scoring sheets. We will discuss all of this on the first day of class.

The only required text for this class is Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, How to Master Negotiation (Bloomsbury 2015), paperback ISBN # 9781780437965, EISBN # 9781784510527. I recommend reading this book before classes begin because we will be using material from the entire book throughout the course.

You also will need to sign up for a Zoom Pro account. You should be reasonably proficient with
Zoom before the first day of class.

Email or WeChat me any time you would like to set up a time to talk or videoconference.