Technology can do more than bring dispute resolution online, it can also improve and enhance traditional in-person mediation in a number of ways.
In the first of two interviews, Professor Orna Rabinovich-Einy talks about the challenges of using technology in mediation, and matters of accountability and confidentiality. She also describes a successful ODR project in Israel.
In the second interview, Orna addresses the question of how technology can enhance accountability in mediation in more details, and tackles the vexed issue of confidentiality and whether it really is – and should be – the holy grail in mediation.
Reflective Questions:
1. In a previous post, Darin Thompson talks about people in dispute resolution processes being most concerned about the outcome, and less about the process. In her first interview, Orna Rabinovich-Einy sees this differently and talks about the importance of justice in the process for its users.
Which expert do you agree with and why?
2. Professor Rabinovich-Einy suggests that confidentiality need not necessarily be as strict as it is in mediation, and that absolute confidentiality brings risks with it.
What about the opposite view?
What are the risks for parties if confidentiality is relaxed as she suggests? Invite your peers to a debate on this issue.
Activities:
Accountability is a key feature in mediation that both Orna and Aled feel will enhance its uptake if it is improved. Search online for mediation organisations / service providers in your jurisdiction to see what they are doing to improve accountability in delivery of their services. In particular, pay attention to any services that use technology or the other strategies suggested in the videos.
Further Resources
Together with Ethan Katsh, Orna Rabinovich-Einy published “Digital Justice: Technology and the Internet of Disputes” in 2018, which addresses all aspects of justice and dispute resolution in the online world. You can read a series of reviews of it here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Justice-Technology-Internet-Disputes-ebook/dp/B06XD6SMNH
For another take on how technology can improve in person mediation, read this article by Alyson Carrel and Noam Ebner https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1836&context=jdr
With new technology come new disputes. In this recent article, Orna talks about disputes that are arising out of the increased use of blockchain technology https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/jdr/vol2019/iss2/6/
Prof. Orna Rabinovich-Einy
Vice Dean and Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Haifa
Click here for Orna’s Academic Profile
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.
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