Student Organizations: The ADR Society

The ADR Society of the 

Appalachian School of Law

The Appalachian School of Law is the only law school in the U.S. founded with a focus on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).  Beginning in 2006, the school placed increasing emphasis on its ADR curriculum, as I described here.
 

The ADR Society is a student organization dedicated to the advancement and awareness of ADR practices, to the exploration of career opportunities in ADR, and to equipping students with the knowledge and skills necessary to represent their future clients effectively in negotiation, mediation, and arbitration forums.  

Students created this organization in 2012. Thus, it joins the other offerings falling generally under our Lawyer as Problem certificate program.

Its Constitutional Preamble provides:

The ADR Society exists to provide Appalachian School of Law students with opportunities to learn about Alternative Dispute Resolution practice, utility, and technique. It does this by sending members to tournaments and conferences, promoting the role of ADR at the Appalachian School of Law, and encourages new and innovative practice through out the community.

Goal Statement

The ADR Society has five goals:

• Promotion of ADR as a necessary skill for today’s successful attorney,
• Development of student’s advocacy skills,
• Lobbying the law school’s administration for a more comprehension ADR program,
• Participation in and creation of community/ASL ADR programs, and
• Competing in regional and/or national ADR competitions.

Any student, professor, or other person associated with Appalachian School of Law may become a member.  The Constitution contains an express non-discrimination clause.

Sponsored Activities

Last year, the ADR Society sponsored the participation of a two-member team in the Robert R. Merhige, Jr. National Environmental Negotiation Competition, which is held at the University of Richmond Law School in honor of the late United States District Court Judge. For more information about the compeition, see here. 

This year, the ADR Society is exploring the opportunity to host an on campus visit by nationally-known master mediator, Robert Creo.  Among many other services provided, Bob has served on the panel of mediators for the Court of Arbitration for Sports which administers cases for the Olympics and other international sporting events since 1998. For many years, he was a salary arbitrator for Major League Baseball and a grievance arbitrator for the National Football League. He served as an independent hearing officer for the United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics for 5 years.

The ADR Society will also plan activities around Conflict Resolution Day and Virginia's Mediation Month.

Assistant Professor Kendall Isaac serves as faculty advisor.

The founding Executive Board included the following students:

Diana Netterville – President
Chris Schumacher – Vice President
Jason Berke – Secretary
Alicia LeClair – Competition Chair
Tessa Lunceford – Treasurer
ADR Day Chair – Susan Wood.