Justice Technology: Digital Dispute Resolution for an Analog World

An online course in 2 parts

Part 1—Tuesday, December 6, 2016; Time: 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Part 2—Thursday, December 8, 2016; Time: 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Who should attend: Mediators, negotiators, and counsel interested in using technology to conduct online dispute resolution.

Learning level: Intermediate/Advanced

Increasingly negotiations, mediations and other dispute resolution processes are taking place online or partially online. The choice to use technology to bring parties together might be based on distance, comfort with face-to-face meetings, time and cost management, or any of a wide array of other considerations. Choice of the technology used may have considerable impact on negotiations, and not all of those impacts are intuitive. 

• When is a teleconference a better choice for a client than a face-to-face meeting or a videoconference? 
• Is chat ever the right tool for resolving a problem?
• Is there any way to make asynchronous written exchanges a productive process?

Sessions:

In Part 1: A Justice Technology Orientation
(December 6, 4:30 – 6:00 pm, 90 minutes)
Participants take a guided tour of common Justice Technology tools, including synchronous and asynchronous platforms for video, audio and text-based negotiations. Participants will try out some of the synchronous tools in coached role-plays.

In Part 2: Justice Technology in the Future: Hybrid and Evolving Technologies
(December 8th, 4:30 – 6:00 pm, 90 minutes)
Participants will learn about both hybrid options for utilization of these tools, and the largely unexplored possibilities for Justice Technology within rapidly evolving technologies.

Note: good computer audio, a microphone, and a webcam are essential for participation. 

Law Society of BC CPD Hours: 3 hours (.5 hours will involve aspects of professional responsibility and ethics, client care and relations, and/or practice management).

Presenters 
Brandon Hastings — Quay Law Centre, New Westminster
Sharon Sutherland — True North Dispute Management, Delta

Pricing
EARLY BIRD (Register by November 8, 2016 and SAVE): $180
Save even more with your CPDone Pass.

After November 8, 2016: $200

There are NO reference materials.

CLEBC Program Lawyer
Meredith Woods
mwoods@cle.bc.ca

Presenters
Brandon Hastings — Quay Law Centre, New Westminster
Sharon Sutherland — True North Dispute Management, Delta

About the Presenters

Brandon Hastings is a family lawyer at Quay Law Centre, and a civil roster mediator. He is passionate about justice, the power of alternative modes of dispute resolution, technology, and online dispute resolution (ODR). Brandon has travelled internationally as a trade delegate and technology-based business competitor, and taught himself computer programming with a focus on Python-based web frameworks.
Brandon is a member of the Planning Committee for CLEBC’s Dispute Resolution Conference 2016, a member of BarTalk’s editorial board, and a regular contributor to the magazine. He is also an executive director of the Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia (ISSofBC) and chairs its fundraising committee, was a panelist at last December’s CBABC immigration law subcommittee meeting, and volunteers as pro-bono counsel with refugee SSP.

Sharon Sutherland of True North Dispute Management, Delta, is a mediator and lawyer with expertise in conflict resolution training and program design. From 2000-2014, Sharon was a full-time faculty member at UBC Faculty of Law where, in addition to a range of substantive legal courses, she taught an intensive clinical mediation program. She has taught Dispute Resolution at Thompson Rivers Law School since 2012. Sharon is a member of the Mediate BC Civil Roster and the Child Protection Roster. She is currently applying her dispute resolution and design skills as a Knowledge Engineer in the development of the Civil Resolution Tribunal. Sharon was honoured with the 2011 Susanna Jani Prize for Excellence in Mediation.

In Part 1: A Justice Technology Orientation
(December 6, 4:30 – 6:00 pm, 90 minutes), participants take a guided tour of common Justice Technology tools, including synchronous and asynchronous platforms for video, audio and text-based negotiations. Participants will try out some of the synchronous tools in coached role-plays.

In Part 2: Justice Technology in the future: hybrid and evolving technologies
(December 8th, 4:30 – 6:00 pm, 90 minutes), participants will learn about both hybrid options for utilization of these tools, and the largely unexplored possibilities for Justice Technology within rapidly evolving technologies.

Note: good computer audio, a microphone and a webcam, are essential for participation. 

AGENDA

Experience Common Justice Technology Platforms

• Video
• Audio
• Text-based

Learn to Choose the Right Platform for the Right Type of Dispute

• In what types of disputes might a video, audio, or text-based negotiation be most effective?
• In what types of disputes might a video, audio, or text-based resolution be ill-advised?

Examining Common Assumptions in Dispute Resolution

• Does Justice Technology de-prioritize relationships?
• Is Justice Technology less effective than face-to-face dispute resolution?
• Does Justice Technology have to be by consent?
• Can the decisions be binding?

Learn to Choose the Right Platform for Specific Parties

• Bridging the generation gap
• Connecting disputants over time and space
• Using Justice Technology to manage power disparities
• Using Justice Technology to diffuse high conflict disputes
• Using Justice Technology to manage and coach your client’s communications

Exploring the Future of Justice Technology

• Hybrid processes: combining platforms and processes
• Negotiations in virtual environments
• Synchronous and asynchronous negotiation
• Facilitated negotiation
• Automated negotiation systems

Preparing for Challenges in Justice Technology

• Managing “the room” and third parties
• Understanding the capabilities of the disputants
• Disputant education