From AALS ADR Chair Ellen Deason…

The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) has announced its selection of the ADR Section as its Section of the Year. It is the featured section in the most recent AALS newsletter. The award recognizes excellence in member support and activities that promote AALS core values such as facilitating outstanding scholarship and teaching support. Our Section will be honored at the AALS Section Officers Breakfast at the AALS Annual Meeting in January in New Orleans.

Those who selected the ADR Section for this honor were particularly impressed with our vibrant Works-in-Progress (WIP) conference, introduced in 2007 by Andrea Schneider of Marquette and sponsored each year by a generous law school. (See below.) It is not only an effective way to foster scholarship in the field, but also (in the words of a participant) “the best opportunity all year for sustained interaction and camaraderie . . . for people who are active in the field of ADR.” Our section also promotes scholarship with its new award for Paper of the Year, established this year by Chair Regent Jill Gross of Pace.

Today’s ADR Section reflects the efforts and stewardship of many Chairs and Executive Committee Members in the years since the section was founded in 1984. I have begun to gather documentation of the history of the section to commemorate these contributions. It is a work-in-progress, but listed below are the early workshops that were the precursors to the WIP and the section Chairs, whose cumulative efforts over the years have made the section what it is today. Special thanks go to Jim Alfini, Carol Liebman, and Carrie Menkel-Meadow for searching their files for information and documents about the workshops.

The members of the AALS ADR Section have also greatly benefited from the programing of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution. With overlapping membership and ongoing collaborations, both organizations have complemented each other and contributed to the strength of the field.

Hosts of the AALS Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Works-in-Progress Conference

2018 University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
with additional support from the JAMS Foundation
2017 Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
2016 Marquette University Law School
2015 Texas A&M University School of Law
2014 Southwestern Law School
2013 Benjamin M. Cardozo School of Law
2012 Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
2011 Creighton University Werner Institute
2010 University of Oregon School of Law
2009 Harvard Law School
2008 Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
2007 Marquette University Law School

AALS Workshops

1982 – Held at Harvard October 7-9. Agenda

1989 – Held in Washington, D.C. July 6-8. Carrie Menkel-Meadow was chair of the planning committee. The workshop was partially supported by a grant from the National Institute for Dispute Resolution. Agenda

1996 – Held at the AALS meeting in San Antonio January 4. Nancy H. Rogers was chair of the planning committee. Agenda

2003 – Len Riskin chaired the planning committee with members Carol Liebman, Gerry Williams, and Jim Alfini. The theme was “Dispute Resolution: Raising the Bar and Enlarging the Canon.” Papers from the conference were published in volume 54(1) of the Journal of Legal Education (2004).

Chairs of the AALS Alternative Dispute Resolution Section (Based on AALS records. See the other parenthetical comments for possible discrepancies.)

2019 Chair-elect: Peter Reilly
2018 Ellen E. Deason
2017 Jill I. Gross
2016 Cynthia Alkon
2015 Sarah R. Cole
2014 Paul F. Kirgis
2013 Jennifer W. Reynolds
2012 Ronald G. Aronovsky
2011 Kelly Browe Olson
2010 Art Hinshaw
2009 Nancy Welsh
2008 Dwight Golann
2007 Andrea J. Schneider
2006 Michael L. Moffitt
2005 Phyllis Bernard
2004 John Lande
2003 Suzanne J. Schmitz
2002 James R. Coben
2001 John L. Barkai
2000 Jacqueline Nolan-Haley
1999 James J. Alfini
1998 Bobbi McAdoo
1997 Robert B. Moberly
1996 Carol L. Izumi
1995 ?
1994 Edward F. Sherman
1993 Carol B. Liebman
1992 Beryl Blaustone (AALS has no record of the chair for 1992 or 1995. Beryl remembers being chair before 1995, but does not recall the exact date.)
1991 Nancy H. Rogers
1990 John McCrory
1989 Charles B. Wiggins
1988 Jay Folberg (According to Jay’s records, he was the chair in 1985-1986.)
1987 Leonard L. Riskin
1986 Carrie J. Menkel-Meadow (According to Carrie’s records, she was the chair in 1987-1988.)
1985 Eric D. Green
1984 Gerald R. Williams

Jay Folberg recalls signing a petition to AALS for the creation of the ADR section at a small meeting of early ADR professors at Harvard. He believes that Frank Sander led the meeting.