The University of the District of Columbia Law Review at the David A. Clarke School of Law invites submissions for its 2015 symposium edition, Not All Controversies End in Court: Checking the Balance In Alternative Dispute Resolution. The symposium will take place March 27, 2015. The submission deadline (abstracts) is Nov. 1, 2014.
The field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has expanded rapidly over the past decade and has become mandatory under a growing list of circumstances. Although clear evidence demonstrates cost and time savings through ADR, an increasing number of activists and scholars have criticized its use as a privatization of justice. Beyond efficiency, under what circumstances can ADR provide a just resolution that might not be available to parties through traditional litigation? What safeguards must be included to ensure that ADR fosters the desired win-win outcome, and does not result in a form of second-class justice that denies parties their day in court? And what can be done to prevent societal biases and power differentials from creating disparate treatment for parties in ADR based on race, gender, ethnicity, or worker status?
(The full call for papers is on the journal’s website.)
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