International Dispute Resolution Processes
This course explores the dispute resolution methods and their application both internationally and in the United States with the emphasis being on the arbitration process. The globalizaton of the economy and the increasingly international aspects of life have promoted arbitration as a preferred means of resolving international commercial disputes. The rise of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in North America is mirrored abroad as numerous civil law countries enact domestic arbitration statutes. The course focuses not only on the theory and law of mediation and arbitration, but on its practical application. In addition to the traditional approach of reading cases, the course methodology explores all aspects of mediation and arbitration, including the decision to use ADR and the drafting of dispute resolution clauses. Attitudes of consumers, business entities and the legal profession, especially the interaction between the court systems and the treatment of arbitration are considered in depth. Students engage in advocacy skills in the representation of clients in classroom simulations. Course objectives include: to acquaint students with various arbitration and other dispute resolution process models available as alternatives or supplements to traditional litigation/adjudication; to enable students to analyze judicially-remediable disputes in terms of legal rights, defenses and remedies with litigants’ goals, objectives or interests in mind; to enable students to make appropriate recommendations to clients.
The approach is an interactive dialogue with role playing and exercises requiring student participation.