The digital revolution is radically changing how people resolve disputes and this is happening without people even realising it. eBay were early adopters of this and Professor Ethan Katsh and his colleague led the charge.
Resources for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Law Students
Mediator Academy’s mission is to provide access to the very best educational resources and thought leaders in dispute resolution to everyone on the planet. We’ve come a long way since our original long-form video interviews (over 1000 were produced) to where we are today with adaptive online lessons and modules. In light of the current challenges that law students and faculty face we are re-engineering some of the richest video interviews from our archives and sharing these resources with you to be used as teaching aids until normal service is resumed. We hope you find them useful.
Is ODR a Growth Industry?
Here is a video of keynote speaker Professor Ethan Katsh, acknowledged to be the founding father of online dispute resolution speaking at the 7th Annual Mediation Symposium on the impact, implications and opportunities presented by ODR which was organised by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in partnership with Mediator Academy in 2014.
He outlines the evolution of ODR and makes some predictions as to how it is likely to develop. He also discusses the “growth industry” of disputes and dispute resolution and how ODR can help prevent disputes.
Online Mediation – The Challenges and Opportunities for Today’s Mediator
Reflective Questions
1. Ethan Katsh talks about the three dimensions of online dispute resolution tools that we have – convenience, trust and expertise. Convenience, as he says, has been the broadest side of the triangle so far, that is to say that the greatest emphasis has been on the convenience of the tool. Which of the three dimensions, in your view, is likely to prove the most problematic for the widespread adoption of ODR and why?
2. Katsh disagreed with Susskind’s view that machines could ultimately put humans out of business when it comes to preventing and resolving disputes? Do you agree? Why or why not?
Click the link to watch our interview with Professor Richard Susskind and accompanying resources on Reinventing Justice with Professor Richard Susskind
The video below is a more in-depth interview with Professor Katsh about the ODR field and the increasing role that machines and technology play in our daily lives and therefore our disputes. He also deals with the questions about whether ODR is only suitable for simple disputes and how to manage complexity.
Activity
Find an example of online dispute resolution in your world. Look at online platforms and marketplaces that you use and see if they have ODR available and how it works. Map out the different steps and key features of the ODR process and / or platform used. Think about how it might rate in terms of convenience, expertise and trust. Share your findings with your fellow students and see what they found out.
Further Reading
Ethan Katsh and Colin Rule’s 2016 White Paper on ODR https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/images/office_president/katsh_rule_whitepaper.pdf
A recent article by Jean R. Sternlight on the strengths and weaknesses of ODR https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3446140
Information on the EU’s ODR Platform https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/main/?event=main.trader.register
Professor Ethan Katsh
Director of the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution, Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is widely recognized as a founder of the field of online dispute resolution (ODR).
Online Course Content Available
Whether you want to offer new modules or courses, attract new students or make your graduate more attractive to employers. We have adaptive online modules and courses at under or postgraduate level.
Contact us for our content catalogue.
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