Last weekend, several faculty and staff from the Harvard Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program traveled down to New Haven, CT for the annual AALS ADR Works-in-Progress Conference. The conference was co-sponsored by the Quinnipiac University School of Law’s Center for Dispute Resolution and Yale Law School’s Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law. 

Several of the clinical instructors in our Dispute Systems Design Clinic presented ideas and papers for feedback: Lisa Dicker ’17 and Deanna Pantín Parrish ’16 presented “Fighting the Fiction of Separate Justices: International Transitional Justice’s Lessons for Domestic Legal Reform and “Alternative” Justice Efforts.” Sara del Nido Budish ’13 presented “Dispute Systems Design in a Highly Unstable Future.” They were accompanied by HNMCP director Rachel Viscomi ’01 and our Clinical Fellow, Jamie SaintPaul, herself a graduate of Quinnipiac Law. 

“The conference was a great opportunity not only to learn from the fascinating projects that are in the works, but also to connect with so many inspiring, brilliant colleagues from dispute resolution programs around the country,” said Budish. “I really appreciated the generous, supportive environment!”

The Works-in-Progress conferences allow academics to get generous feedback from colleagues in the field at all levels and across academic generations. Even emeritus faculty attend, to act as mentors and thought partners to younger faculty in the press of publishing and building a career.

“It was such a pleasure to see our field gather in-person!,” said Parrish. “At many institutions, ADR scholars and clinical faculty work alone or on lean teams. That fact makes it particularly exciting for us to gather together and exchange ideas with other ADR enthusiasts!”