Strong negotiation, client counseling and dispute resolution skills are critical to a successful legal career. With less than two percent of cases going to trial, lawyers need the skills to settle lawsuits and negotiate contracts through direct negotiations. They also need specialized advocacy skills to represent clients in alternative dispute resolution processes such as mediation (facilitated negotiations) and arbitration (private adjudication).

Legal employers and clients value lawyers who are skilled at conflict resolution and know how to achieve client goals creatively without destroying key business and personal relationships. The importance of these skills is reflected in the upcoming changes to the bar exam, which will soon include client advising, client management, negotiation, and dispute resolution. Loyola’s excellent Dispute Resolution Program prepares you with internationally recognized faculty and competition teams and a broad curriculum of courses.

Outcomes

You will learn the law that governs mediation, arbitration, and other dispute resolution processes and how to design a process that fits the dispute. You'll learn to negotiate in any setting, manage difficult conversations and people, and guide clients, opposing parties, and mediators to creative resolutions that achieve client goals in mediation. You'll also be prepared to ethically and persuasively represent a client before a tribunal of arbitrators. It all adds up to skills to ethically protect client interests in any dispute resolution process.