Careers in Alternative Dispute Resolution

Winner:  Ninth Circuit Award for Excellence in ADR Education - 2007

Embarking upon a career in Alternative Dispute Resolution can be difficult for new attorneys.  Research, informational interviewing and volunteering are all advised in your pursuit of an ADR career.

Explore Careers/Informational Interviews:

• Look at what Hastings CNDR Adjuncts have done: CNDR Faculty & Staff
• Check out professional associations like the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution or the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California
• The ABA Section of Dispute Resolution will be holding its Annual Spring Conference in San Francisco in 2010 - check it out!

Scan Job Listings:

• www.mediate.com
• Hastings Career Service: http://www.uchastings.edu/careers/students/index.html
• "Dispute Resolution Career Opportunities & Resources" group on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/821287
• The New York State Dispute Resolution Association website: www.nysdra.org

Volunteer:

Courts

• SF Superior Court, Small Claims Court Mediation: ACCESSMediation@sftc.org to inquire re: volunteering
• US District Court, Northern District of California Neutral Application & Requirements
• 1st District Court of Appeal Mediation Program

Community Organizations

• Community Boards, San Francisco: http://www.communityboards.org
• Penninsula Conflict Resolution Center, San Mateo: http://www.pcrcweb.org
• SEEDS (Services that Encourage Effective Dialogue and Solutions). East Bay: http://www.seedscrc.org

Build Your ADR Portfolio

In addition to volunteering, teach, coach and judge at local law schools and business schools.  Conduct an in-house negotiation or ADR training at your workplace.  Join the board of a non-profit ADR organization or a bar association ADR committee.  Build towards your ADR career by finding a legal job that involves hands-on negotiation and mediation representation.  Consider collaborative law as a practice.  Construct a law practice specialty in which you would eventually like to land an ADR job.  Attend ADR conferences.