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Dispute Resolution Careers

Explore options for a career in dispute resolution

The Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (CNDR) is UC Hastings’ home for all things dispute resolution. When looking for a career in the ADR field, it’s important to start finding places you can meet people, get experience, and start using your skills. Many people start by taking basic and advanced mediation trainings, and joining volunteer mediation programs in the local courts or at nonprofits.

See some below for resources related to ADR careers, and please also refer to Hastings’ Career Development Office for more resources.

Types of careers to consider in dispute resolution:

  • Private practice mediator/arbitrator/neutral
  • ADR case manager/administrator
  • Omsbudsman/omsbudsperson
  • Facilitator
  • Conflict coach
  • Negotiator
  • Conflict resolution trainer
  • Judge/commissioner
  • Professor or educational staff at a university with and ADR program
  • Human resources

 

Upcoming Event:

Click the flyer to RSVP for this panel and lunch. Questions to Mattie Robertson, Deputy Director of CNDR.

 

Where Do I Start?

Research the many organizations and individuals that specialize in dispute resolution – this list is just a sampling. From nonprofit community mediation programs to the courts and private practitioners, the San Francisco Bay Area in particular has a strong ADR community with many opportunities to learn and get involved in dispute resolution.

Where Do I Start?

Research the many organizations and individuals that specialize in dispute resolution – this list is just a sampling. From nonprofit community mediation programs to the courts and private practitioners, the San Francisco Bay Area in particular has a strong ADR community with many opportunities to learn and get involved in dispute resolution.

Dispute Resolution Organizations

  1. Community Boards
  2. SEEDS Community Resolution Center
  3. Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center (PCRC)
  4. Center for Human Development
  5. Center for Community Dispute Settlement (CCDS)
  6. International Omsbudsman Association
  7. SF Department of Police Accountability
  8. Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) ADR Services
  9. Alameda County Bar Association (ACBA) ADR Section
  10. Contra Costa County (CCC) Bar Association ADR Section
  11. California Court ADR Programs
  12. The Mediation Society

Where Do I Apply?

CNDR has collected some options to search for job postings in the ADR field, and we encourage you to think outside the box and consider any place where there are interpersonal interactions, or systems/cultures where conflict may occur. People who are go-betweens or work with the general public are using ADR skills in their careers daily. Also consider local nonprofits or government agencies from the resource list above, or higher education – like CNDR and UC Hastings!

Tip for job searching: ADR can take many forms, so be sure to search many different keywords such as “mediation,” “ADR,” “alternative dispute resolution,” “conflict resolution,” “negotiation,” “omsbuds,” “arbitration,” and “facilitation.”

Where Do I Apply?

CNDR has collected some options to search for job postings in the ADR field, and we encourage you to think outside the box and consider any place where there are interpersonal interactions, or systems/cultures where conflict may occur. People who are go-betweens or work with the general public are using ADR skills in their careers daily. Also consider local nonprofits or government agencies from the resource list above, or higher education – like CNDR and UC Hastings!

Tip for job searching: ADR can take many forms, so be sure to search many different keywords such as “mediation,” “ADR,” “alternative dispute resolution,” “conflict resolution,” “negotiation,” “omsbuds,” “arbitration,” and “facilitation.”

Dispute Resolution Career Links

  1. ABA Dispute Resolution Career Center
  2. ADR Services
  3. JAMS
  4. Judicate West
  5. Indeed
  6. Idealist
  7. Higher Ed Jobs
  8. United States District Court for the Northern District of California
  9. American Arbitration Association (AAA)
  10. Mediate.com