Recent News

January 6, 2012

What's New in Arbitration/Mediation?

Recent trends and developments in the world of arbitration are topics of discussion at the next ADR committee meeting, January 13. Sarah Rudolph Cole, Professor of Law and director of the ADR program on Dispute Resolution at the Moritz College of Law, will discuss important arbitration issues of the past year, recent decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court on arbitration, and The Arbitration Fairness Act.

In addition, Professor Cole will spend some time talking about the Regional Representation in Mediation Competition scheduled for March 9 - 11 at the Moritz. This competition, sponsored by the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, brings law students from across the mid-west region to Columbus to role-play as attorneys and clients in a mediation setting. The competition measures how well law students model appropriate preparation for and representation of a client in mediation.

Volunteer judges are needed to evaluate and score the quality of representation by the student teams and also give feedback directly to the students at the end of the competition. The volunteer mediators serve as mediators for the role-play, with the students playing the roles of lawyers and clients. Volunteers are required to use a facilitative mediation style so that the student competitors see a consistent style throughout the competition. Training for volunteer mediators and judges will be provided immediately before the rounds begin. Past volunteers report learning much that is helpful in their teaching and mediation work, as well as seeing how much the law students learn. Attend the ADR Committee meeting to learn more about how to get involved in this worthwhile program.