During this age of globalization, our world has begun to steadfastly look toward negotiation, mediation, arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution as alternative methods of solving conflict. Since the 1970s, the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) movement has gained momentum in judicial and academic circles and is currently reflected in courses in most law schools, while the number of established mediation and arbitration practices continues to rise. To best prepare students for meeting these societal and legal changes, Case School of Law has established its sixth Center of Excellence this academic year - The Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Conflict and Dispute Resolution (CISCDR).

CISCDR's core mission is to bring greater ADR sensitivity and skill development to Case School of Law students to prepare them for the multiple roles that they will perform as lawyers in a global economy.

CISCDR's Director is Calvin William Sharpe, the John Deaver Drinko-Baker & Hostetler Professor of Law. Professor Sharpe joined the law school faculty in 1984, and has taught Evidence, Trial Tactics, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and courses in labor and employment law. Professor Sharpe comments on why the establishment of CISCDR is important to our students' education: "The law school, as part of a great university and as an intellectual leader in legal education, is uniquely positioned to advance our understanding of conflict and dispute resolution through the interdisciplinary study of law and other disciplines. Students will be the immediate beneficiaries through expanded offerings of courses, symposia, and research, writing and training opportunities that will equip them for the multidimensional practice of law in the twenty-first century."

Since their inception, American law schools have focused on dispute resolution through litigation. With the recent growth of the ADR movement, over thirty law schools now have programs that seek to organize the dispute resolution curriculum and offer special opportunities for intellectual and practical development in the field. Case School of Law will join in this academic programming, which is significant to future lawyers. "As the legal profession continues to evolve, we must provide our students with the knowledge they will require to assist a vast variety of clients with complex national and transnational issues that are not well suited to adversarial resolution in domestic forums," states Dean Gerald Korngold.

CISCDR's core mission is to bring greater ADR sensitivity and skill development to Case law students to prepare them for the multiple roles that they will perform as lawyers in a global economy. Through the following initiatives, the Center aims to advance the academy's understanding of conflict, to strengthen existing models of teaching dispute resolution, and to create new responses to conflict and dispute resolution through interdisciplinary theoretical and practical approaches.

Symposia
CISCDR will sponsor symposia that will emphasize the intersection between law and other disciplines such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, medicine, philosophy, economics, and religion that have systematically examined the problem of conflict and dispute resolution. Symposia will emphasize themes that evoke interdisciplinary treatment always in dialogue with law. The inaugural symposium will be a joint conference cosponsored with the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center on April 8, 2005, Rebuilding Nation Building, which will focus on nation building and democratization in the Middle East.

Interdisciplinary Programs and Research Projects
CISCDR will seek to engage the resources of the University across relevant disciplines by involving outside faculty in program planning in an advisory capacity and even, perhaps, as part of a working group. Under CISCDR's banner, it is also expected that faculty will be conducting research on several topics. These include Professor Sharpe's interdisciplinary study of conflict and dispute resolution, and a collaboration study with the Racial Fairness Project. Eventually, curricular reform may introduce dispute resolution components in courses across the curriculum.

Mediation Clinical Experience for Students
As part of an interdisciplinary theoretical focus, students will be provided with a mediation clinical experience. "An extremely small fraction of cases filed with the court system are resolved at trial. Students in the Civil Clinic have traditionally focused on the litigation process. Now they will also have the opportunity to expand that focus with the addition of a new mediation component. This component is two-dimensional. The first element helps the students understand the role of an advocate in a mediation setting, using current clinic cases as an example. The second element allows the students, after training, to be neutrals in a mediation setting. These experiences will broaden the students' understanding of the justice system and allow them to more appropriately counsel clients in the future about their options."

Collaborative Programming with the Law School's Centers of Excellence
CISCDR will collaborate with the other five Centers of Excellence at the law school. The pervasive character of conflict and the necessity for dispute resolution give CISCDR a natural affinity with the other Centers, each of which has a dispute resolution dimension.

Law-Medicine Center:
The Institute of Medicine's early-offer approach as a promising reform in medical malpractice, and the issues surrounding mandatory and binding arbitration in insurance and managed care plans, encompass law-medicine concerns that could benefit from ADR initiatives. CISCDR could enable health law students to learn and apply ADR techniques to their specific areas.

Frederick K. Cox International Law Center:
With the exception of litigation of international issues in domestic courts, the International Court of Justice and international criminal proceedings, ADR processes (such as negotiation, mediation, and arbitration as well as truth commissions) dominate international law.

Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic Center:
CISCDR's collaboration with the Kramer Clinic is particularly close and moving toward the establishment of a clinical mediation component.

Center for Law, Technology, and the Arts:
Mushrooming cases and costs in patent litigation and the cognitive difficulties of juries and judges in patent infringement cases are important reasons to support ADR on the patent side of intellectual property.

Center for Business Law and Regulation:
Negotiated rulemaking is an area where ADR intersects with business law and regulation.

In this academic year, CISCDR will build upon current resources including the existing ADR courses and the proposed mediation clinic, and will add one or two symposia each academic year. Future plans include adding courses to the curriculum by existing faculty, with new faculty being selected to complete dispute resolution teaching and/or scholarship, and regular or adjunct faculty added to accomplish ADR training. With growing resources, CISCDR also seeks to establish an interdisciplinary journal on conflict and dispute resolution and an administrator.

Case Western Reserve University School of Law is pleased to launch The Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Conflict and Dispute Resolution. The law school looks forward to the Center's role in preparing our students for careers in law, public and community service, and commerce, and in advancing the field of alternative dispute resolution.