Excerpted from De Novo
Magazine (Fall 2009):
Thoughts of lawyering often conjure up scenes of imposing
courtrooms, impassioned dialogue, and immersed spectators.
Sensational cases that reach the national stage and monopolize
media outlets only add to this perception. In recent years,
however, reality has increasingly diverged from this image, and
today, fewer than five percent of cases filed actually culminate in
a courtroom trial. Instead, negotiated settlements and, to a
growing extent, mediation and arbitration, serve as primary avenues
to dispute resolution.
At the same time, lawyers, clients, and even judges increasingly
complain about the financial and emotional toll that adversarial
litigation takes. A significant majority of corporate general
counsel now support including mediation clauses in their business
agreements. While these developments may suggest a
declining demand for courtroom gladiators, they by no means herald
a diminishing need for skilled lawyers. Quite the contrary. As
processes such as negotiation, mediation, and arbitration gain
ground in legal practice, the call only intensifies for lawyers
competent and confident in areas outside the traditional – namely,
for lawyers proficient in alternative dispute resolution.
For some time, St. John’s has watched this trend, and now,
thanks to the generosity of Hugh L. Carey – former New York
Governor, St. John’s alumnus, and recognized leader in working to
resolve difficult conflicts while striving for social justice –
this fall, the Law School will officially open the Hugh L. Carey
Center for Dispute Resolution. “This is something we’ve been
talking about with Governor Carey for a number of years,” explains
Professor Paul F. Kirgis, Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship
and Faculty Chair of the Carey Center. “As a law school, we need to
give our students the skills to represent clients in these new
processes. And given what’s happening in the world with the
growth of so many seemingly intractable conflicts, there is a
critical need for new approaches to conflict. This is a
perfect opportunity to establish a center for dispute
resolution.”
The Carey Center Director Elayne E. Greenberg agrees. “Courts
are changing,” she notes, “Consumers are demanding more cost
effective and responsive solutions to conflicts, and lawyers are
wondering if there isn’t a better way to resolve conflicts…. We’re
so excited about this [the Carey Center] because even though St.
John’s has for many years had faculty doing activities in conflict
resolution, the Center will serve as a home in which we can
coordinate dispute resolution initiatives among faculty, students,
and alumni.”
With its mission of developing conflict resolution as both a
value and a practice in students’ professional lives, communities,
and the world, the Carey Center will offer courses, conferences,
clinics, and co-curricular activities to make St. John’s a leader
in the growing field of alternative dispute resolution. “This
is really about teaching lawyers that they don’t have to be
destructive to be effective,” says Kirgis. “It’s about finding
the way to a better win.”
In addition to an expanded range of course offerings within the
traditional curriculum, the Center will facilitate clinical and
externship placements to provide students practical, hands-on
training in dispute resolution. As an example of expanded
opportunities for students to learn about dispute resolution,
Greenberg cites the new Matrimonial Judicial Externship in the
Nassau County Supreme Court, where students have the opportunity to
observe the Court’s integration of dispute resolution processes
into its case management. “This is a recognition that to be a
competent lawyer, you have to be competent in dispute resolution
skills,” Greenberg notes. “We are going to prepare students who are
going to be competent in negotiation, mediation, and
arbitration.”
Another of the Carey Center’s first initiatives, the
Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, brings those three
disciplines together in a single, unique event. The
Triathalon, which the Center is hosting in partnership with the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is an unprecedented
competition in which law student teams from across the country will
meet head to head in a three-round contest focusing first on
negotiation, then on mediation, and finally on
arbitration. Third-year law student Peter Ryan, applauds
the concept of the triathlon. “This is how it works in real life,”
notes Ryan, citing the chronological progression from negotiation
through mediation and, if necessary, to arbitration. “To combine
these into one competition is so simple and so brilliant. We are
all really excited about it, and hopefully anyone who is in dispute
resolution is excited about it, too.”
In 2007, Ryan, a former President of the Student Bar
Association, teamed with fellow law student Jessica Aaron to launch
the Law School’s Dispute Resolution Society (DRS), which is the
student arm of the Carey Center. In its short history, DRS has
already hosted two internal competitions and participated in
several external competitions. “Negotiation is probably the most
important thing you [as a lawyer] do,” explains Ryan. “Even if you
are a hard-core litigator, most of your cases are going to settle,
and you need to know how to do this as effectively as
possible.”
Beyond focusing on St. John’s students, the Carey Center will
serve the greater academic community. This fall, for example, the
Center will join with the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review
to co-sponsor a conference at St. John’s examining the use of ADR
in bankruptcy cases. And by partnering with other University
departments ranging from psychology and business to education and
theatre, it is expected that the Carey Center will become a
resource for examining dispute resolution in relation to justice,
ethics, and peace around the world. “We’re looking for
opportunities to grow by developing our programs in international
dispute resolution,” Kirgis notes.
Last summer, for instance, the Law School co-hosted a group of
students from Catholic University of Ghana, offering them an
intensive series of courses on conflict resolution. This year,
Greenberg plans to teach international dispute resolution as part
of the Law School’s Summer Rome Program. The Carey Center
also anticipates hosting an international conflict resolution
conference in Europe within the next few years, and plans are
underway to create a summer program in international dispute
resolution for American lawyers.
“We really feel the Center is an extension of the values of the
broader University,” Greenberg states. Indeed, these values not
only illustrate St. John’s core Vincentian mission, but also
exemplify the legacy of the Carey Center’s namesake. “When you look
at Governor Carey’s life,” Greenberg explains, “he is really a
model of how effective you can be if you apply conflict resolution
skills.”