Before heading to Pepperdine for the Teaching Law School ADR Courses I promised some blog posts related to the conference.  Between moving across town and then heading to Hamline to teach a summer session, I haven’t had time to get any up until now.  Here are my thoughts from the plane ride home.

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Reflections on Teaching ADR Conference

Six years ago I went to a conference at Pepperdine about teaching mediation.  Dwight Golann, Peter Robinson and Jay Folberg thought it would be a good idea to sit around a table and share teaching philosophies, strategies and exercises.  There were 20-25 of us there, we got some good networking in, and I used some of the lessons to improve my class.  In fact, that session was the inspiration for the Shoptalk Sessions at the Legal Educators’ Colloquium at ABA DR Conference.  This year Dwight, Peter and Jay thought it was about time for another conference focusing on teaching, and this time there were over 150 people in attendance. 

As I travel home, a statement that Len Riskin said to me at lunch keeps coming back to me – “I’m going to use some of these techniques in my class.”  If that’s Len’s reaction, there’s no better testament to the value of the conference.  My reaction is more a reaffirmation of how much I like the people in this field – they give their time, they mentor the youngsters in the field, and they are in the field for the right reasons.  I walk away from the conference proud to be a part of this group.  And, like Len, I will be using some of these techniques as well.  Thank you colleagues !!