Cyber Week 2015

It's Cyber Week again! This program focuses on trends in the emerging field of "ODR" or online dispute resolution. Anyone can attend this interesting virtual conference on the future of alternative dispute resolution which is sure to be filled with a wealth of webinars, discussion forums and activities. A content rich website, hosted by the ADRhub-Werner Institute at the Creighton University School of Law in Omaha, contains a variety of webinars discussing the integration of technology and dispute resolution. The link below provides access to registration links for the online educational activities this year. Event organizers encourage visitors to review the entire program to ensure not missing a topic that will meet interests of practitioners considering using technology in dispute resolution processes. Some highlights from the program include presentations entitled: Video Mediation, Power of the e-Apology, and a mobile app demonstration by the developer of Picture It Settled, about which I've blogged before. It seems the topics this year are more domestic focused, as international mediators were more interested in this form of mediation at this juncture last year. Curtailing travel costs can be incentive enough to mediate online, but the efficiency of the software in being able to access negotiations at the user’s convenience seems to be the main feature touted in this modern method of settling lawsuits. Amounts in controversy will likely drive the ODR process to lower value cases with a shorter average duration. Efforts in this area have been around for more than a decade, but I'm still not sure ODR is ready for prime time in larger cases where a human element in decision-making is often intangible without parties participating in person. See more here-- http://www.adrhub.com/page/cyberweek-2015