UC Law SF Dispute Resolution Program Ranks Among the Nation’s Elite
The UC Law SF Dispute Resolution program was ranked 9th nationwide by U.S. News and World Report. It provides advanced in-depth training to students, judges, lawyers, and professionals, along with offering an Advanced Practitioner Mediation Certificate Training.
The Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution is frequently sought out by local and international government organizations, and its practitioner trainings and events reach a wide range of people. This combination of academic and practitioner focus creates an environment where theory and the real world can work together to effect positive change through dispute resolution.
For example, students can attend the “Leadership Lab” summer program that promotes professional growth through soft skills including communication and conflict resolution.
Interim Director Mattie Robertson said, “I’m particularly proud of our training project with the California Labor Commission, where we trained over 200 of their hearing officers, attorneys, and staff in mediation and negotiation skills to help ease case backlogs and attend to party needs more holistically. They’ve even asked us to train another 130 people through the project.”
She added, “Our continued ranking in the top ten is validation of the hard work our center has engaged in this past year – from continuing to provide high quality and in-depth trainings to judges, lawyers, and professionals with our Advanced Practitioner Mediation Certificate series and the large CA Labor Commission training project, to our many interactive student offerings.
“Even with the leadership transition, we’ve stayed engaged with our students, other schools, and brought in an international audience to our many programs. Keeping program virtual has also enable us to engage a wider audience.”
The center is a part of a vibrant community of dispute resolution organizations and professionals in San Francisco. Its small, interactive classes and its reputation among practitioners and professionals enables students to develop their skills swiftly and become more marketable. The CNDR helps students develop the necessary skills to become successful negotiators and extends its services to the public through various trainings and events.
Robertson said that she wishes more people understood the importance of dispute resolution skills, and that she is proud of the impact of the UC Law SF Dispute Resolution program has had in the personal and professional lives of those who have been a part of it, “Both students and practitioners often comment on the useful nature of the skills they learn through our programming, not just professionally, but in their personal lives as well.”