Description:

Mediators are, by nature, interdisciplinarians.  The best blend a mix of expertise from

law, psychology, negotiation theory, interpersonal skills, cross-cultural awareness and

other disciplines – and they apply  insights to questions about strategy, communication,

bargaining and decision making.  Of course, every matter also has a substantive

component as well – whatever the heart of the dispute is about.

At this workshop, we’ll look at a number of the fields that inform our practice and

discuss how we use knowledge from these fields in our practices, and how we might

improve even more if we were broader and more deliberate in our interdisciplinary

approach.

About our Presenter:

Richard Birke is a Vice President of JAMS and the Executive Director of the JAMS

Institute—the teaching and training arm of JAMS—where he both provides internal

trainings for JAMS professionals and external training for JAMS across the U.S. and

internationally.

Prior to joining JAMS, Rich had a long career as an academic, teaching at Stanford Law

School as a lecturer before becoming a law professor at Willamette University the

director of its Center for Dispute Resolution.

Rich’s trailblazing work in the psychology and neuroscience of mediation and

negotiation earned him two Article of the Year awards from CPR. He continues his

innovative work as a researcher and writer, as well as a mediator, under the auspices of

JAMS.