If you’ve ever picked up a tabloid magazine you’ve no doubt seen a story of a celebrity divorce turned ugly – bitter court battles, name calling, custody fights. But if University law students Katie Staton and Tiffany Moore have their way, those stories may become scarce.
As the law school kicks off a new academic year, Staton and Moore hope to use their friendship to promote the Alternative Dispute Resolution Advocates group and to highlight the benefits of alternatives to litigation. Staton and Moore, who respectively serve as the group’s chair and vice chair, hope they can make the group highly involved in both the law school and in the University community.
The group is dedicated to promoting knowledge and use of alternative conflict resolution methods as opposed to traditional litigation. Any law student can join the group and has the option of becoming part of the Appropriate Dispute Resolution program offered through the law school.
Appropriate Dispute Resolution teaches students theories and techniques behind conflict resolution. Jane Gordon, the director of the Appropriate Dispute Resolution Center, said one of the main benefits of the program is its interdisciplinary origin. Many social science approaches to conflict resolution are integrated into the program, giving the students a diverse set of conflict resolution skills, Gordon said.
Despite being less than a decade old, the program is ranked seventh in the nation, Gordon said, and is teaching students to have an open mind about forms of conflict resolution.
“The program is expanding the tool kit of our law students,” she said.
Currently in the United States, more than 98 percent of cases are settled outside of court, Gordon said. Because of this trend, four years ago the law school created the Conflict and Dispute Resolution master’s degree program. The program combines interdisciplinary perspectives to conflict resolution and provides students with a firm understanding of alternative dispute theory.
Students can either pursue the master’s degree in conflict resolution or can get a concurrent degree, which includes a master’s and a law degree. Both Staton and Moore are in their third years, pursuing concurrent degrees. Moore explained that this approach allows students to train in both alternative conflict resolution and law, which gives them flexibility in their career paths.
Through three separate techniques – mediation, negotiation and arbitration – alternative dispute provides a method of conflict resolution that allows victims to work with defendants, and focuses on getting at the root of the conflict, Moore explained.
Alternative dispute resolution examines why a conflict exists between two parties and seeks to have both parties happy with the end result.
“We are expanding the pie,” Moore said. “Both sides get their needs met.”
Staton also said alternative dispute resolution leads to conflicts being better resolved than they would be using traditional litigation.
“If people can come to the table and sit down and find common ground, it’s a lot better,” she said. “It’s not a lose-win situation like in court; it’s a win-win situation.”
Appropriate Dispute Resolution Center Associate Director and Associate Professor of Law Michael Moffitt said the Alternative Dispute Resolution Advocates group is important because it provides law students with learning opportunities they normally would not be able to experience in law school. “The greatest benefit of the group is that it actively gives law students the opportunity to spend time focusing on the problem-solving aspects of the law,” he said.
Students involved in Alternative Dispute Resolution Advocates have the opportunity to participate in alternative dispute competitions, allowing them to exercise their skills in a realistic setting. The competitions are held in the fall and spring, and students who are competing break up into teams of two and role-play solving a conflict between two parties using a mediation process. The program held in the fall is put on by the law school, and the program in the spring is a larger competition through the American Bar Association.
Moore said another benefit of the group is that it allows students to see if alternative dispute resolution is something that they want to become involved in. Because the classes in alternatives to litigation are overcrowded, Moore explained, the group also allows students who are unable to enroll in a course to learn about alternative dispute resolution.
Staton and Moore have a common goal of wanting to use the group as a means to advocate alternatives to going to trial, and want to make the group members as active as possible. They plan to use their ability to work together to achieve their goals for the group.
“I know how she thinks, and she knows how I think,” Moore said. “Law school has a way of bonding people together.”
[email protected]