The “new normal” of legal practice is resolution of disputes outside the courtroom. The overwhelming majority of cases in the United States are resolved through some type of negotiated or collaborative process rather than judicial decisions. Mediation, in particular, has become an integral part of legal practice. Once limited to collective bargaining and divorce, mediation now has widespread application disputes ranging from small claims, to eldercare, child dependency, personal injury, employment, school and special education, bioethics, environmental, as well as in the criminal context. Mediation is closely connected with state and federal courts at both trial and appellate levels, used by administrative agencies in their quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative rule-making activities, statutorily mandated, and privately contracted for by businesses and organizations.
To catch-up to the reality of legal practice, mediation and alternative dispute resolution must become core components of clinical law programs and, more broadly, law school curricula. Future advocates need to learn the array of skills necessary to negotiate, advocate, and counsel clients in non-litigation processes. Indeed, placing students in a neutral/non-partisan stance may be the pedagogy of choice in developing unbiased lawyering judgment. In this session, panelists explore the relevance and importance of mediation clinics to clinical law programs and to legal education more broadly. The presentation will demonstrate how mediation clinics are uniquely positioned to engage students in modern law practice, to collaborate across clinical practice settings, and to prepare future attorneys how to define and advance justice in all advocacy settings.