Education

Online Learning Programs to hone people’s skills in the broad field of effective communication and interaction.

Innovative media programs are intended to describe and promote the work of dispute resolution professionals.

The Sleeping Beauty Conference Series (SBCS) is inspired by the upcoming 10th anniversary of the 2014 symposium of the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution which asked: Is Mediation a Sleeping Beauty?   The 2014 symposium explored aspects of mediation that are beautiful, proven, and promising, making it logical that mediation would catch on. Despite the promise, however, mediation appears to remain comatose in most countries.

To awaken Sleeping Beauty, Professor De Palo, the keynote speaker for the 2014 symposium, proposed a mediation model originally presented before the European Parliament in the Rebooting the EU Mediation Directive study. The model requires litigants to make a reasonable initial effort at mediation, i.e., to participate in an initial meeting with a mediator, in appropriate cases. Mediation remains thus voluntary because only an initial meeting is mandated–not full engagement. Often referred to as “easy-opt-out”, this model has generated growing mediation markets in countries with very different legal systems and cultures.  And other ideas were also put forth.

Professors Giuseppe De Palo and Lela Love are organizing a series of international conferences addressing themes from the 2014 symposium:  Is Mediation Sleeping?  Is She Beautiful?  Who Will Awaken Her? Each SBCS event offers policymakers, judges, lawyers, and the mediation community, an ideal forum to discuss evidence-based policies capable of making mediation the natural first step when direct settlement negotiations fail. SBCS is part of a broader global initiative building on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for a Sustainable Development, which includes ensuring “Access to Justice for All” as part of achieving “Peaceful and Inclusive Societies”.

The 2024 symposium will be held at Cardozo School of Law in New York in November 2024.  Join us then!