March 2020 has been a busy month for Texas A&M Law’s Dispute Resolution Program.
U.S. News released its 2021 specialty rankings, and we were proud to see that Texas A&M Law is now ranked 6th in the nation in the Dispute Resolution category.
The Texas A&M program also overcame a looming pandemic to hold a virtual version of
this year’s symposium: ADR’s Place in Navigating a Polarized Era. With the March 20 date approaching and coronavirus warnings dire, most presenters and moderators were able to re-arrange plans and meet by Zoom to make their planned presentations and offer feedback on each other’s draft articles. Jonathan Cohen, Jill DeTemple, and Baruch Bush started it off in the morning. In the afternoon, participants discussed presentations by Nancy Rogers, Sharon Press, Howard Gadlin, and Noam Ebner. The resulting articles will be published in upcoming issues of the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution and the Texas A&M Law Review. These issues also will include articles by Jennifer Reynolds and Deborah Eisenberg who were unable to participate in the online conference.
Despite the distance and disruption, human connections were palpable over the Internet. One presenter wrote to thank Texas A&M for “organizing it, re-organizing it, and including me!” Others described it as “inspiring,” “wonderful,” “satisfyingly stimulating,” and “a fascinating day among wonderful folks.” Finally, a presenter said, “ I cannot imagine all of the different challenges in putting together an online conference at a time like this, but I appreciate that you all did it.” We likewise appreciate all that our presenters gave to us. In addition, the day would not have been possible without the work of Texas A&M Law’s IT staff, as well as staff members Kirsten Evans and Andrea Hudson, and moderators Professors Carol Pauli, Michael Green, and Guillermo Garcia Sanchez.
Once the crisis is past, the Aggie Dispute Resolution Program hopes to celebrate with the full in-person symposium—people in the seats in our Lecture Hall, hotel rooms, refreshments, the works.
And as if the month were not busy enough, there were significant developments on the curricular front at Texas A&M. In her Mediation class, Professor Welsh hosted a panel of Dallas-Fort Worth mediators, including Adjunct Professor Karen Washington (who also co-teaches Mediation with Professor Welsh), Cecilia Gordon, Sharon Corsentino, and Sharmeen Ladhani, who presented to students and faculty regarding their practices. Also in March, Texas A&M Law’s faculty approved a Tax Dispute Resolution Clinic. This course joins two other new dispute resolution offerings at Texas A&M: Legal Analysis, Research and Writing III – ADR, taught by Adjunct Professor Karen Washington, and Professor Garcia Sanchez’s course, International Oil and Gas Dispute Resolution.