Pepperdine ADR courses going remote and global

Alternative dispute resolution courses will be offered online this summer and available around the world from Pepperdine University Rick J. Caruso School of Law.

The Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution usually enrolls Pepperdine's own students into three programs, but since they are remote this year, everything will be accessible to students and professionals all over the world.

The offerings are: the summer academic program, professional skills and mediating the litigated case.

Sukhsimranjit Singh, managing director at the institute, said the programs are catered toward law students or professionals interested in sharpening their skills. Because the programs are remote, students will learn how to use dispute resolution skills online, something Singh believes will be important in the future.

"Will remote mediation substitute on-the-ground mediation? I won't go that far," Singh said. "I think there's a space for in-person mediation work. There are cases where people need to be in a building together, but I think this pandemic has opened peoples' eyes towards the opportunities the online world provides."

The classes run from May 18 through Aug. 1 and will be taught by instructors based in the United States and elsewhere. Some courses will focus on how to handle cultural differences online.

This is especially important during the pandemic, since different cultures are handling it differently, according to Singh. He said he believes that it's important that new students learning dispute resolution in a global crisis know how to mediate remotely with people from around the world. But he said the profession must adapt.

"Part of the value of the ADR profession is to be flexible and innovative," Singh said. "And if we don't innovate or be flexible and change ourselves during this time, then we fail in the very value that we preach in our subject."

-- Henrik Nilsson