<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I am considering law school, and I was wondering what sort of career opportunities there would be in the field of dispute resolution, arbitration, or mediation law. Does Big Law hire associates for this area of law, what sort of money would I expect to make, and how many hours would I expect to work?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>In my experience, most arbitrators and mediators are very experienced attorneys with many years of practice under their belts. Typically, they do their arbitration and/or mediation working through one of the associations, such as the American Arbitration Association, that handle these matters.</p>
<p>Hi Neutral- as my kid has taken a number of Labor courses and is thinking Law School, I have also obtained some info on mediation/dispute resolution-</p>
<p>Northwestern, through the Bluhm Legal Clinic, has a Program in Negotiation and Mediation. You can take some courses and get Certified through their Center for Conflict Resolution. The certification will allow you to work in the Cook County Court System as a mediator. I believe GW has a similar opportunity to work in the DC courts. Stanford also has programs in this area of Conflict resolution - but haven't checked it out too much as Stanford is probably not in my kids future.
Now my husband who is also a practicing attorney also has a similar take to sallyawp- He felt it was mostly "seasoned" attorneys who do mediation- </p>
<p>But as info about the Mediation/certificate is on the Law School website, it seems to me that new opportunities and experiences may be opening up for today's law students.
I hope more people respond, as we'd like more info about this area too.</p>
<p>Law firms do not hire young associates for any such specialties. Persons who become mediators, artbitrators are usually lawyers with a lot of experience or ex-judges; the main reason: parties involved in a dispute do not want to retain some young kid just out of law school for the role, e.g., perception is 60% of the role for a mediator; if he is a respected ex-judge, parties, at least early on, will listen to him; if he is a young lawyer just out of law school, he starts out facing deaf ears.</p>
<p>Moreover, dispute resolution, mediation , and arbitrations are actually a part of any litigators practice (or a labor practice) and thus associates can get experience in those in the normal course of their development and law firms, in hiring, generally do not place a premium on special courses in law school. In other words, for you law students, if the choice is between taking a dispute resolution course and Evidence, please, please, take Evidence.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, mediation is one step that happens (a single time, or sometimes repeatedly) in the process of litigating a dispute. Sometimes the mediators are experienced attorneys for a firm that does not represent either party; more commonly, they’re retired judges.</p>
<p>Young associates sometimes attend mediations, but rarely play that significant a role in the mediation process.</p>
<p>I'm a mediator who is also an attorney.</p>
<p>Just to clear up a common misconception, being an attorney is not a prerequisite for serving as a mediator or arbitrator. Mediators come from many different professions of origin, not just the law.</p>
<p>However, individuals who are selected to serve as neutrals to resolve a dispute are typically people who possess substantial experience in a particular field and are viewed by clients as knowledgeable in that area. As others have indicated, large law firms do not hire recent law school graduates to serve as mediators. </p>
<p>In addition, establishing a career as a mediator is difficult, even for people who have established credentials and experience in their profession of origin, whether the law or another field. Unlike other professions, there are few positions available, and many mediators tend to be entrepreneurial, launching their own practices. Success is not easily achieved, and much hard work is necessary. </p>
<p>However, I have a different perspective from that offered by drusba. Evidence will be a required course--of course you should take that. But as an increasing number of courts offer court-connected mediation services to litigants or even require litigants to attempt to mediate their dispute, it will behoove attorneys to understand the principles of mediation to be able to represent clients effectively at the table. And savvy clients these days are informed about mediation and see it as a means of saving time and money in the resolution of disputes. Law students should be prepared to face the future of the practice of law, which will demand a grounding in the basics of alternative dispute resolution. A law school class will teach the theory and principles of ADR--something that isn't necessarily learned on the job, as I know from experience.</p>
<p>Along those lines, I would encourage any associate to take a course in negotiation, since negotiation constitutes a substantial portion of the work attorneys perform on behalf of clients. </p>
<p>Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>Thanks for the info srdan-</p>
<p>"However, I have a different perspective from that offered by drusba. Evidence will be a required course--of course you should take that."</p>
<p>Srdan, though I was seeminly giving an extreme example, it really is not. As I have discovered as a result of recruiting in the last few years, Evidence has become an elective course at many law schools. Law students should be aware that many of us "older" lawyers do not consider evidence an "elective" that a recruit does not need when it comes to hiring.</p>