Getting Started
What is "Alternative Dispute Resolution"?
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is a system of methodologies that parties can use to resolve disputes without resorting to litigation. These include arbitration, mediation, negotiation, and more.
The Legal Information Institute (LII) Wex online legal dictionary provides a helpful and succinct overview of ADR and its methods.
This research guide discusses materials and methods for researching ADR methodologies and practices in the Harvard Law School library and beyond.
Key Databases
- ADR Practical Guidance (Bloomberg login)
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Practical guidance for ADR methods including forms, drafting guides, and checklists. - Arbitration in the U.S. Resource Kit (Lexis login)
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"This resource kit provides an overview of strategic considerations for conducting domestic arbitration in the United States..." Includes guidance on drafting clauses and agreements, selecting arbitral organizations/arbitrators, discovery and motion practice, and more. - Alternative Dispute Resolution Course Study Collection (Westlaw login)
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"A list of essential Practical Law resources to help you learn the basics taught in Alternative Dispute Resolution law school courses."
Secondary Sources
Using Secondary Sources
Secondary sources are a great place to begin your research. To learn more about secondary sources and how to use them, visit the following guide:
Encyclopedias & American Law Reports
Legal encyclopedias contain brief, broad summaries of legal topics. They provide introductions to legal topics and explain relevant terms of art. State encyclopedias can also be found on Westlaw and Lexis.
- American Jurisprudence 2d - Alternative Dispute Resolution (Westlaw login)
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- American Jurisprudence 2d - Alternative Dispute Resolution (Lexis login)
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- Corpus Juris Secundum - Arbitration (Westlaw login)
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The American Law Reports contains in-depth articles on narrow topics of the law. Use the following Indices to access the ALR. Note: Lexis also has some ALR materials but Westlaw's are more complete.
- ADR Index Topic - ALR (Westlaw login)
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- Arbitration Index Topic - ALR (Westlaw login)
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ADR Treatises
Here is a selection of ADR treatises in our collection. Use HOLLIS to find more.
Study Aids
Principles of Alternative Dispute Resolution by Call Number: KF9084 .W367 2023ISBN: 9781684677276Publication Date: 2023-03-29Provides a clear and reliable statement of the law and concepts central to ADR (arbitration, negotiation, mediation, and other processes). Its thorough coverage of arbitration law renders this challenging and rapidly-changing body of statutes and case law accessible to the student or lawyer. The chapters on negotiation and mediation treat the subjects from the perspectives of theory, practice, and legal doctrine.
Alternative Dispute Resolution in a Nutshell by Call Number: KF9084 .N647 2021ISBN: 9781684674336Publication Date: 2021-09-29This title presents a concise summary of alternatives to the court adjudication of disputes. On-point discussion facilitates an understanding of the wide variety of options available that can better suit a client's needs, such as negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and various mixed mode hybrids such as arb-med, med-arb, consensus-building as well as court-connected processes. Particular attention is focused on the legal and ethical issues associated with negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Other topics include dispute system design, implicit bias, repeat player bias, and third-party funding.
Examples and Explanations for Dispute Resolution by Call Number: KF9084 .M64 2020ISBN: 9781543805840Publication Date: 2019-10-16Dispute Resolution, Fourth Edition combines introductions to theory with practical exercises in decision analysis, problem solving, and various forms of conflict resolution.
Mastering Alternative Dispute Resolution by Call Number: KF9084 .F44 2014ISBN: 9781611632019Publication Date: 2015-04-01Negotiation, mediation, and arbitration are skills which are usually taught by doing, but there are a number of fundamentals that need to be studied. This book introduces the reader to those fundamentals and uses examples to show how to put them to practical use.
Practical Guidance
Alternative Dispute Resolution by - This link opens in a new window
Call Number: Westlaw loginPublication Date: 2005 - 4th Edition (Updated periodically)Alternative Dispute Resolution, provides you with a comprehensive discussion of negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and other alternative dispute resolution processes, examining techniques, procedures, and underlying statutory and case law.
Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Guide by - This link opens in a new window
Call Number: Westlaw loginPublication Date: 2010 (Updated periodically)Provides in-depth analytical, legal, and practical coverage of all dispute resolution options, with emphasis on arbitration and mediation from the perspectives of experienced ADR practitioners.
Arbitration
The Law and Practice of United States Arbitration by Call Number: KF9085 .C37 2018ISBN: 9781944825164Publication Date: 2018, 6th ed.A comprehensive treatise about the development and practice of arbitration law in the United States. It addresses in detail the recourse to arbitration in domestic matters—employment, labor, consumer transactions, and business—and its use in the resolution of international commercial claims. It covers all of the major subject areas in the field and provides practical advice as well as an easy-to-read, clear discussion of the relevant case law.
Settlement Agreements in Commercial Disputes by Call Number: KF9085 .S482ISBN: 9781543813241Publication Date: 2020-10-14With nearly all corporate disputes being resolved in settlements, drafting strong, enforceable settlement agreements is one of the most critical and challenging areas of corporate and commercial law practice today.
A Practitioners Guide to Arbitration by Call Number: KF9085 .A93 2023ISBN: 9781639053124Publication Date: 2023-12-01"A guide for practitioners during arbitration"--
Mediation
Commercial Mediation Practice Guide by Call Number: KF9084 .P53 2022ISBN: 9781639052349Publication Date: 2023-11-07Commercial Mediation Practice Guide: A Practical Handbook for Lawyers and their Business Clients, Third Edition is a revised and expanded version which provides an invaluable and straightforward understanding of key suitability, preparation and advocacy issues in mediation.
Mediating Legal Disputes by Call Number: KF9085 .G63 2021ISBN: 9781641059138Publication Date: 2022-06-01This book teaches you how to work with difficult litigants and overcome the hidden barriers that frustrate settlements.
Mediation: Law, Policy, & Practice by - This link opens in a new window
Call Number: Westlaw loginPublication Date: 2022-2023 ed. (Updated yearly)This book analyzes the mediation-related law and social science research as these bear on a number of roles that lawyers play: advisors to clients weighing whether and how to use a mediator; advocates for clients involved with mediation; mediators, and advisors to courts and agencies dealing with the difficult trade-offs involved in planning and implementing mediation programs.
Negotiation
Legal Negotiation in a Nutshell by Call Number: KF9084 .T47 2023ISBN: 9781685614560Publication Date: 2022-10-20Follows the entire process from opening negotiations to settlement. Text first introduces negotiation in law practice and representing a client in legal negotiation. Covers the basic types of legal negotiations, case evaluation, and preparation. Also addresses the types of legal disputes that should not be negotiated. Examines negotiating styles, strategies, and tactics as well as the stages of legal negotiation.
Negotiation Essentials for Lawyers by Call Number: KF9084 .N443 2019ISBN: 9781641054805Publication Date: 2019-01-01This practical guide covers more than fifty key negotiation topics. It is the only book on negotiation that takes an array of crucial negotiation elements and makes them easy not only to read, but to use. All chapters share a standard format, so lawyers can find the essentials quickly. Subject matter experts from a variety of fields summarize the best and most recent research and theoretical advances in negotiation.
Peace Negotiations and Transitional Justice
Negotiating Transitional Justice by Call Number: KZ6787 .F74 2020ISBN: 9781107187566Publication Date: 2020-01-16Drawing from the recent Colombian peace negotiations and other global experiences, Freeman and Orozco offer a comprehensive theoretical and practical conception of what makes the 'devil's dilemma' of negotiating peace with justice implausible but feasible.
Legal Normativity in the Resolution of Internal Armed Conflicts by Call Number: KZ6745 .K37 2015ISBN: 9781107107564Publication Date: 2015-08-07Based in a socio-legal and pluralistic understanding of law, this book explores the normative dynamics of peace negotiations. It argues that the role of law in the peaceful resolution of internal armed conflicts has been greatly underestimated and that legal theory can and should contribute to a better comprehension of these processes.
Children and Transitional Justice by Call Number: UNICEF PublicationISBN: 9780979639548Publication Date: 2010-09-01Children are increasingly a focus of international and national courts and truth commissions. Their participation, including through testimony that bears witness to their experiences, demonstrates their critical role in truth, justice, and reconciliation processes. If children are to engage, however, their rights must be respected.
Restorative Justice
Swampy Cree Justice: Researching the Ways of the People by Call Number: KID8251 .H36 2019ISBN: 1926476239Publication Date: 2019Within this third edition, Dr. Hansen builds upon his exploration of the concept of Indigenous/First Nations justice by incorporating discussions with three Omushkegowuk (Swampy Cree) Justice Committee members to the stories and explanations originally provided by the six Omushkegowuk elders indigenous to northern Manitoba. In so doing, Dr. Hansen provides an example of how the philosophy of Omushkegowuk justice, (a concept of justice undergirded, and impregnated with, a belief in education and healing), is being implemented in praxis. Analysis utilizes the Four Directions and presents what Dr. Hansen refers to as an example of Indigenous Restorative Justice.
The Little Book of Restorative Justice by Call Number: ProQuest EBook CentralISBN: 1680990446Publication Date: 2015-01-27Howard Zehr is the father of Restorative Justice and is known worldwide for his pioneering work in transforming understandings of justice. Here he proposes workable principles and practices for making Restorative Justice possible in this revised and updated edition of his bestselling, seminal book on the movement.
Critical Issues in Restorative Justice by Call Number: HV8688 .C76 2004ISBN: 1881798518Publication Date: 2004-07-30Addresses the critical issues that face restorative justice. These were identified following a series of meetings between practitioners, policy makers and academics in the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, the USA and Canada, and are addressed directly in this book by an international group of writers.
Decisions
Best Bets for ADR Decisions
- Labor Arbitration Practice Center (Bloomberg login)
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In addition to full-text awards and decisions, can also find practical guidance, and news & analysis. - AAA Labor Awards (Lexis login)
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American Arbitration Association (AAA) provides national arbitration services. Includes decisions from 2003 - current. - Labor Arbitration Awards (CCH) (Westlaw login)
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Includes select labor arbitration decisions from 1900 through 1985, and full coverage from 1986 to present. - FINRA - Arbitration Awards"FINRA's Arbitration Awards database enables users to perform web-based searches for FINRA and historical NASD arbitration awards free of charge, seven days a week. Also available through the site are historical awards for New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board."
Additional Resources
ADR at Harvard Law School
- Harvard International Negotiation ProgramThe Harvard International Negotiation Program builds theory and practical tools to address the emotional and identity-based roots of modern conflict.
- Harvard Law School Negotiation and Mediation Clinical ProgramThe Harvard Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) is the nation’s first legal clinic focusing on dispute systems design and conflict management.
- Harvard Law School Program on NegotiationThe Program on Negotiation (PON) is an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to developing the theory and practice of negotiation and dispute resolution in a range of public and private settings.
- Harvard Mediation ProgramHMP provides diverse opportunities to learn, practice and teach mediation, and to serve the community by promoting effective mediation services.
- HLS Faculty - ADR Interest AreaThis page lists all HLS faculty members who list ADR among their areas of scholarly interest.
Organizations
- American Arbitration AssociationAAA is the largest private global provider of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services in the world.
- JAMS (jamsadr.com)JAMS (formerly Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services) is one of the largest providers of ADR services in the world.
Additional Readings
- From the Field: An Ombuds Guide2021 report by Oladeji Tiamiyu, Clinical Fellow in the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program.
- IndisputablyA "blog devoted to linking dispute resolution scholarship, education, and practice."
- National Institute of Justice: Dispute ResolutionSearch of the NIJ database for all materials to which the keyword "dispute resolution" has been assigned.
- Dispute Resolution Magazine (Westlaw login)
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The Magazine provides timely, insightful and resourceful information regarding the latest developments, news and trends in the field of dispute resolution. Selected coverage begins with 1996 (vol. 3) through 2007 (vol. 13:2). Full coverage begins with 2007 (vol. 13:3)
Dispute System Design
About Dispute System Design
Dispute system design involves "the design of processes and of systems for preventing and managing disputes." It is not merely making a decision about using a particular ADR method to resolve a dispute. Instead, it means creatively crafting ways to resolve novel, complicated disputes that feature diverse and competing variables and interests.
(Source: Rogers et al., Designing Systems and Processes for Managing Disputes (2013)).
Dispute System Design: Selected Books
- Designing Systems and Processes for Managing Disputes byPublication Date: 2019 (2nd ed.)
- Dispute System Design: Preventing, Managing, and Resolving Conflict byPublication Date: 2020
Dispute System Design: Selected Articles and Book Chapters
- "Designing Ethical Online Dispute Resolution Systems: The Rise of the Fourth Party"L Wing et al., Negotiation Journal, 2021.
- "The Ethical Practice of Human-Centered Civil Justice Design"VD Quintanilla and H Hinkle, Notre Dame JL Ethics & Pub. Pol'y, 2018.
- "International Dispute System Design: Shoals and Shifting Goals"J. Martinez, J. Disp. Resol., 2020.
- "Why the Haves Come Out Further and Further Ahead: The Repeat Player Effect, Control over Dispute System Design, and Justice"LB Amsler, Discussions in Dispute Resolution, 2021.
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Credit and CC License
Credit
Thank you to Jennifer Allison for her work on the initial version of this guide.
CC License
This guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
You may reproduce any part of it for noncommercial purposes as long as credit is included and it is shared in the same manner.