Ninth Circuit ADR Education Award

  
In the summer of 2005, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals awarded ASU its inaugural ADR in Education Award. The award, the first of its kind in the nation, was formed to recognize law school contributions to the ADR field. Specifically, ASU was recognized for its well rounded ADR emphasis, as the following press release explains.
Arizona State University College of Law to Receive Ninth Circuit ADR Education Award
News Release
From the Public Information Office, United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit
July 1, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO - The College of Law at Arizona State University will be recognized by the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference next month for its development of innovative curriculum, research and service in the area of alternative dispute resolution, or ADR.
The ASU law school has been selected to receive the inaugural Ninth Circuit ADR Education Award. The award will be presented on July 18, 2005, during the opening session of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference at the Spokane Convention Center in Spokane, Wash. Senior Circuit Judge Dorothy W. Nelson, chair of the Ninth Circuit's Standing Committee on ADR, will present the award to a representative of the school.
At the request of the Standing Committee on ADR, the ADR Education Award was established this year by the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit, governing body of the federal courts in nine western states and two Pacific Island jurisdictions. The award seeks to recognize those law schools that have significantly advanced ADR scholarship and research.
The ASU College of Law began offering ADR education in 1993 as part of its Civil Justice Clinic. Since then, ADR education has expanded to include research and service initiatives and is now part of the school's Lodestar Dispute Resolution Program. ADR studies include two innovative courses, "Mediation and Settlement Advocacy" and "Conflict Theory," which help students gain a better understanding of mediation as a lawyering skill, roles in the settlement process, and effective methods of addressing client needs and interests.
Students obtain practical experience through the Lodestar Mediation Clinic, where they co-mediate cases under the Maricopa County Justice Court's Dispute Resolution Program. The law school also is active in the American Bar Association's Representation in Mediation Competition, where students role-play as advocates and clients in a mediation setting.
The Ninth Circuit's Standing Committee on ADR was particularly impressed that the law school's ADR program reaches a broad spectrum of students, and that ADR scholarship and research is a priority among faculty members.
"The ASU College of Law is one of only a few law schools in the nation to have an ADR research director in addition to its regular ADR faculty. This represents a firm commitment to furthering the ADR field of study," Judge Nelson said.
The ASU program was nominated for the award by Professor Art Hinshaw, Director of the Lodestar Dispute Resolution Program.
The Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference meets pursuant to Section 333 of Title 28 of the United States Code for the "purpose of considering the business of the courts and advising means of improving the administration of justice within such circuit."
The Ninth Circuit consists of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, and the district and bankruptcy courts and related court units for the Districts of Alaska, Arizona, Northern California, Central California, Eastern California, Southern California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Eastern Washington, Western Washington, the U.S. Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.