Professor Shestowsky Discusses Online Dispute Resolution in New Q&A

The Pew Charitable Trusts has published a Q&A with Professor Donna Shestowsky about her 18-month empirical study of online dispute resolution (ODR).

Shestowsky is working with the Pew Charitable Trusts to evaluate online platforms for mediations and negotiations. These platforms would eliminate the need for some parties to appear in-person for trial.

The Q&A explores procedural justice, an integral element of Shestowsky’s study, which considers, among other questions, whether ODR reduces the time and stress on parties and courts; affects case outcomes; improves litigants’ use of court procedures and navigation of court rules; and increases users’ sense of procedural fairness.

In the Q&A, Shestowsky also addresses the stopgap use of online court proceedings during the pandemic, when most physical courtrooms were closed, and what impact these online experiences might have on litigants’ acceptance of ODR.

There has not been a neutral, empirical study of ODR before this one, initiated by The Pew Charitable Trusts in partnership with Shestowsky and the nonprofit National Center for State Courts.

The project evaluates data from several courts piloting ODR programs. Shestowsky and her research team are focused on courts in Hawaii, Michigan, and Texas. Because of her study’s scope, Shestowsky is partnering in the research with Chicago’s Resolution Systems Institute, a nonprofit that aims to enhance court alternative dispute resolution systems.

Shestowsky directs UC Davis Law’s Lawyering Skills Education Program and is an expert in alternative dispute resolution.  The Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution named her article “Inside the Mind of the Client: An Analysis of Litigants’ Decision Criteria for Choosing Procedures” as the best ADR article of 2018.