Civil Mediation Council Conference at Leeds 22-5-14 -with notes

Online Dispute Resolutionwhat?-why?-when?

Graham Ross

www.TheMediationRoom.comg.ross@TheMediationRoom.com

@mediationroom

Civil Mediation Council Leeds, May 22nd 2014

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2000 - launched the first ODR service in UK- “We Can Settle” (blind bidding)

2002 – launched the first online mediation service at the Law Society- launched by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf

2007 – hosted and chaired the 5th United Nations Forum on Online Dispute Resolution

2009 – member of team that drew up the European Committee of Standardisation's Workshop Agreement on standards in ODR

2011 – co-author of the EU funded publication “Costs and Quality of Online Dispute Resolution” and designer of the linked online survey user exit tool

2012 –co-author of European chapter in “Online Dispute Resolution: Theory and Practice” - Eleven

2012 – chaired the session on ODR at the Internet Governance Forum in Azerbaijan

2012- appointed Head of the European Advisory Board to Modria.com Inc

2014 – appointed by the Civil Justice Council to its ODR Advisory Group

* Trained over 120 mediators worldwide in ODR.

* Held online mediation roleplay competitions for 12 law schools.

* Spoken on ODR at 22 conferences worldwide – next at the Civil Mediation Conference Leeds, 22nd May 2014

My ODR Credentials Obsession

Have YOU Words To Eat?“ It seems certain that there is practically no chance of (the aeroplane) becoming a commercial means of transport,’” - The Engineer Magazine

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us” - Western Union memo 1878

“When the Paris Exhibition [of 1878] closes, electric light will close with it and no more will be heard of it”-Oxford Professor Erasmus Wilson

“The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad” -President of Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyer

“Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night” -Darryl Zanuck (20th Century Fox)

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” -Ken Oslon, the president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) -1977

“The Internet is no place to conduct a mediation” - ?? (you?)

“The use of the Internet is Britain has risen substantially over the last two years, reaching 78% of the population 14 years and over. “

OxIS Report 2013: Cultures of the InternetWilliam H. Dutton and Grant Blank, with Darja Groselj

Access no problem

The Changing Environment for ADR

MODRIA INC. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL

Society is Networking• Broadband internet• Mobile devices• Social networks• If you’re not online, you’re at risk

of increasing irrelevance

The Evolution of ADR• The line between ODR/ADR is blurry• Mediators are doing ODR now• Tech is changing every industry• The pace of change is accelerating

What is ODR?

Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) is the use of information and communications technology to help

parties find resolution to their disputes.

What is ODR?

MEDIUM FOR DISCUSSIONS

TOOLS AND DATA

INTELLIGENT IT

Web ConferencingEmailChatroomsForumsDocument Exchange etc

Problem DiagnosisCase ManagementCase Profiling and AnalysisArgument StructuringLegal Analysis

Game TheoryHeuristicsPrioritisation and Trade-off SupportOutcome Suggestions

But More Than Skype!

"In the long run I expect (ODR) to become the dominant way to resolve all but the most complex and high-value disputes".

Professor Richard Susskind - “Tomorrow's Lawyers” - Oxford University Press – 2013IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice since 1998

12

"(The court system) may well have something to learn from online dispute resolution on eBay and elsewhere”".

Lord Neuberger of Abbottsbury– President of the Supreme Court- in a widely reported lecture at the Institute of Government - June 2013

“You can set up an iChat, but you don't know how people think.”

Ryan Bingham”

In the Interest of Balance…

ODR Generates Valuable Data for ADR

Longitudinal, quantitative studies at eBay/PayPal demonstrate conclusively that effective resolutions generate increased transaction volumes and profits, regardless of the outcome achieved

Good For Business

“QUANTIFYING THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF EFFECTIVE REDRESS: LARGE E-COMMERCE DATA SETS AND THE COSTBENEFIT CASE FOR INVESTING IN DISPUTE RESOLUTION”- Colin RuleUniversity of Arkansas, Little Rock, Law Review 34 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 767

ODR Extends the Market

Parties at a significant geographical distance

One or more parties with a relevant disability

Parties with a negative inter-relationship

Mediation in which the value in dispute does not justify the cost of in-person mediation

Urgent cases involving daily loss/damage

ODR 4F2F

Clarify the facts, history, emotion, concerns etc

Narrow the issues

Discuss privately with each party, the BATNA and WATNA for each of them

Obtain, and try to reach agreement on, any required valuations etc

Help the parties prepare for the mediation both procedurally and in attitude

Following an in-person mediation:-

Finalise negotiations/continue discussions should the in-person mediation fail to fully resolve- the ‘bottomless mediation’?

During the period leading up to an in-person mediation, the mediator can use the online mediation platform to:-

DISPUTE

ARBITRATION

LITIGATION APPEAL

NEGOTIATIONF2F

MEDIATION

ONLINEMEDIATION

Online technology allows a mediation to start at any time and continue in parallel with other forms of dispute resolution. No need for a stay of proceedings

Background Mediation

ODR in the Workplace

Can start immediately at an informal a level as felt appropriate

Issues can be raised early and confidentially before they grow into bigger issues

Discussions are off the company's network so less risk of unauthorised viewing such as may occur (inadvertently or otherwise) with email

Real time 'on the case' mentoring of junior management

Files form growing resource of how to handle disputes to inform less experienced management and create more consistency

Operates as training platform in roleplay cases

Lets talk to Daniel Rainey, Chief of Staff, National Mediation Board, Washington DCR

Resolution Center (3)

25MODRIA INC. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL

Asset DividerAsset Divider

SMART SETTLESmartSettle

Encourage a more ideal working environment

Discourage multi-tasking

Know Who You Are Talking To!

http://www.elevenpub.com/law/catalogus/online-dispute-resolution-theory-and-practice-1

Online Dispute Resolutionwhat?-why?-when?

Graham Ross

www.TheMediationRoom.comg.ross@TheMediationRoom.com

@mediationroom

Civil Mediation Council Leeds, May 22nd 2014