Dispute Resolution requires the development of skills and a familiarity with processes that supplement or are alternatives to litigation, as well as the use of some of the same skills in the everyday practice of negotiating that lawyers undertake on behalf of clients. But beyond helping shape agreements, lawyers increasingly deal with specific forms of dispute resolution such as mediation and arbitration. Litigators engage in mediation and arbitration as advocates, while transactional lawyers draft and negotiate over dispute resolution clauses in commercial contracts, employment agreements, joint ventures, trusts and other documents.
Dispute resolution raises legal issues, such as the enforceability of an arbitration clause when one side prefers to litigate or the legal limits on deception in negotiation. It is even more important, however, that a student understand that ways of dispute resolution, especially non-binding processes such as mediation and negotiation, are enormously fluid and flexible, presenting a series of choices and opportunities for advocates and counselors.
Suffolk Law-ABA: ADR Teaching Center Project
Suffolk University Law School and the ABA Dispute Resolution Section have partnered in a unique collaboration for over 10 years to create an extensive library of ADR teaching videos that are widely used by law school faculty across the country to teach ADR methods including negotiation, mediation, client counseling, as well as mixed ADR processes.
Courses currently offered in the elective program which may be helpful to students considering a dispute resolution practice include the following: