Program on Alternative Dispute Resolution

About the Program

Moritz Law is widely regarded as having one of the nation's finest programs in the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

The program was established in recognition of the need for future lawyers to be trained in an array of dispute resolution methods beyond litigation, including negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. The importance of alternative dispute resolution methods continues to increase as courts explore other means of solving the volume of cases before them.

Although all law students should consider enrolling in at least one of the college's ADR courses, those with an especially strong interest may want to serve as a member or editor of the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution or as a research assistant to one of the six law faculty teaching in this area. Law students who enroll in a minimum of 15 credit hours of ADR courses and an externship are awarded a Certificate in Dispute Resolution at the time of graduation.

The Moritz College of Law offers an unparalleled opportunity for students to study dispute resolution issues.

• Ten law faculty regularly offer a total of 15 elective courses on dispute resolution, and six other faculty offer a unit on negotiation, mediation, or arbitration within another course offering.
• Students can elect to take classes and participate in externships that enable them to earn the college's Certificate in Dispute Resolution as part of their law studies.
• Students mediate actual disputes as part of one of the nation's longest-running mediation clinics.
• Students edit and write articles for the award-winning Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution.
• Students participate as research assistants on public policy initiatives involving dispute resolution processes.
• Nationally prominent scholars and practitioners deliver lectures and symposia on critical dispute resolution issues.
• Students participate in advocacy skills competitions, including mediation and negotiation.

"[T]he courts increasingly offer mediation and other dispute resolution processes, not just trials and appeals, to help people find satisfactory ways to end their disputes. The best of the next generation of lawyers will be adept in their use of negotiation, mediation, and other processes to help their clients settle disagreements."

Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer
Supreme Court of Ohio
1964 Graduate of The Ohio State University
Moritz College of Law