The ICODR Podcast

Episode 23: Ben Davis, Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Toledo Law School

In this episode of the ICODR podcast Ian speaks with Ben Davis, Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Toledo Law School.
Professor Benjamin Davis joined the College of Law faculty in 2003 and retired on Jan. 31, 2021. He is a graduate of Harvard College (B.A.), Harvard Law School (J.D), and Harvard Business School (M.B.A.) where he was articles editor of the Harvard International Law Journal. Professor Davis taught in the areas of contracts, commercial law, alternative dispute resolution, arbitration, public international law, international business transactions, and 3L extended bar preparation. For his final project at the college, he hosted a dynamic virtual conversation with more than 40 experts around the world.
Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Davis was an associate professor at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law (now Texas A&M University School of Law). Between 1983 and 1986, he worked in Paris, France as a development consultant in West Africa, and as a strategic business consultant with Mars & Co in Europe. In 1986, he became the American legal counsel at the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) where he supervised directly or indirectly over 1,000 international commercial arbitration and mediation cases, made filings before courts around the world on behalf of the ICC, assisted with the drafting of arbitration laws in countries such as India and Sri Lanka, and led conferences in Eastern and Western Europe, North America, and Asia. In 1996, he was promoted to director, conference programmes and manager of the Institute of World Business Law, where he organized training sessions on international contracts, dispute resolution, project finance, and electronic commerce.
Professor Davis is the creator of fast-track international commercial arbitration and the inventor of the International Competitions for Online Dispute Resolution by which students from around the world competed in online negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation (2000-05). He served as former chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution. He is a former board member of the Society of American Law Teachers and a former member of the ABA Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline (Pipeline Council) and the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security. He is also a former member and subcommittee chair for the Arbitration Competition for the ABA-Law Student Division Competitions Committee, which developed the ABA arbitration moot court.
Professor Davis led the successful effort in the American Society of International Law to pass only the 8th resolution in its history entitled the ASIL Centennial Resolution on Laws of War and Detainee Treatment. He submitted an amicus curiae in support of respondents on Nov. 26, 2019 in the U.S. Supreme Court Case GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA LLC. In 2018, he received the Champion of Change Award of Arbitral Women, the international NGO of women ADR practitioners.
Professor Davis has given numerous presentations and speeches around the world. He has published dozens of articles on topics related to international and domestic arbitration, online and offline dispute resolution, and international law. He is also a contributing editor at Jurist.

Episode 22: Keri Morris and Isobel Egerton on ODR for Domain Name Disputes

In this episode of the ICODR podcast Ian speaks with Keri Morris and Isobel Egerton about ODR for Domain Name Disputes.
Keri Morris is ODR Establishment Project Manager at the Domain Names Commission. She joined the Domain Name Commission [DNC] in July 2021 to help set up the Online Dispute Resolution programme. She is a mediator who strongly believes in helping people resolve their own disputes.  She is a Fellow (Mediation) of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK and of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators' Institute of New Zealand. A highly experienced Family Dispute Resolution Provider, Keri was instrumental in leading the FDR services for New Zealand’s service provider for many years.  She is a trained CINERGY© conflict coach and a keen writer on all things dispute resolution - some of you will have seen her articles on the mediate.com site.Isobel Egerton is the Domain Name Policy lead at InternetNZ. Isobel was Interim Domain Name Commissioner in 2022 and has expertise in the regulation, management and control of domain names. Prior to joining the domain name industry, Isobel practised law for over 20 years, most recently as legal counsel for New Zealand Police and has significant experience in managing legal risk and a passion for consumer protection.

Episode 21: Dr. Irene Sigismondi, Teaching Assistant at University of Rome ”La Sapienza”

In this episode of the ICODR podcast Ian interviews Irene Sigismondi, attorney at Law, a trainer and a contract professor at the Universities of Rome “La Sapienza” and LUISS “Guido Carli”, in the field of Public/Constitutional Law, Legal Theory and Law and Technology (including ODR).  After getting her degree in law (LUISS, Rome 1995), she became a practicing attorney in Rome, 1998.  Irene then gained her Ph.D. in Information Technology (ICT) and Law (Sapienza University of Rome, 2003), and served as a visiting fellow (2001-2008) at the Yale Center for Internet Studies and as a researcher for the Italian National Council of Research at the  Insitute for Judicial Studies (IRSIG/CNR, Bologna, Italy 2003-2007).  She has also been a visiting scholar at Paris I-Sorbonne (Centre de Recherche de Droit Public Comparé) and visiting professor at Szczecin University and lecturer in Law and Technology at the  European Master in Law and Policies of European Integration (European Constitutional Law and Multilevel Constitutionalism). Since 2009 she serves as project manager for the Quality Drafting and Better Regulation Module in the ICT Master Program (Master in Diritto dell’Informatica e Teoria e Tecnica della Normazione) at Sapienza University of Rome, Law School. In 2021-2022 she was appointed by the Government as external support to the Legal Team of the Department of Innovation and Digital Transformation.

Why Is Justice Lagging Behind? with Mirèze Philippe [Ep. 20]

"You need to believe in a project. If you don't believe in it, you can't take it forward."  In this episode, host, Ian Macduff, talks with guest, Mirèze Philippe--a French lawyer and dispute resolution practitioner---about the following:
The problems that have stopped justice services from moving online
What is the definition of ODR?
ODR as a court-based process as opposed to a settlement process
About Mirèze Philippe:
 
Mirèze is a French lawyer of French and Lebanese origin. 
She is a dispute resolution practitioner and was Special Counsel at the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration ICC until her retirement end 2022. 
Mirèze has been in the field of online dispute resolution since 2000 and built various platforms, namely for ICC and for ArbitralWomen alongside IT engineers. She was also member of the UNCITRAL Working Group III on ODR. She is Fellow of the National Centre for Technology and Dispute Resolution (“NCTDR”) (http://odr.info/), Board member of the International Council for Online Dispute Resolution (“ICODR”), and Advisory Board member of ODR Africa Network (https://odrafrica.com). 
Mirèze is co-founder of ArbitralWomen (AW), an organisation gathering and promoting female practitioners in international dispute resolution. She is member of various organisations promoting gender equality and equal opportunities for equal qualifications. She received the CPR 2018 Diversity Award for outstanding contributions to diversity in ADR.
Mirèze published articles on arbitration, online dispute resolution and gender diversity. Her résumé and publications are available on ArbitralWomen website: https://www.arbitralwomen.org/author/mireze-philippe

Influence of ChatGPT on ODR with Noam Ebner [Ep. 19]

Chances are you've heard about ChatGPT, but have you thought about the potential influence of ChatGPT on ODR? In this episode, host, Ian Macduff, chats with guest, Noam Ebner (professor of negotiation and conflict resolution at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business) about the impact of ChatGPT on ODR directly and indirectly, as well as other related topics:
Court ODR
Access to Justice, and
Tech as a tool versus tech as a barrier
 
About Noam Ebner:
Noam Ebner is a professor of negotiation and conflict resolution at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business. 
Prior to joining the faculty at Creighton, Noam taught at universities in Israel, Turkey, and Costa Rica. He practised as an attorney, negotiator, and mediator at his Jerusalem-based firm, trained mediators for the court system, and conducted hundreds of workshops on negotiation and conflict resolution for a broad range of private sector industries, governmental agencies, universities and non-profits around the world. 
An early innovator in the online teaching of negotiation and dispute resolution, Noam consults on online learning to universities and other institutions and is former chair of Creighton’s Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program’s online graduate degree program. 
Together with Prof. Jen Reynolds of the University of Oregon, Noam established the Pop Culture and Conflict Resolution Project. The Project’s goal is to introduce the knowledge of the negotiation and conflict resolution fields to the general public by engaging fandoms via books, podcasts, appearances at fan conventions, and more. Their first book is Star Wars and Conflict Resolution

ODR in Courts in Canada and Cyberjustice with Dr. Nicolas Vermeys [Ep. 18]

Similar to the phrase "fit the forum to the fuss", the type of dispute should determine the the type of ODR tool that is used. In this episode, host, Ian Macduff, talks with guest, Dr. Nicolas Vermeys about a variety of topics related to incorporating ODR into Courts in Canada. Episode highlights include a discussion of the following:
An overview of the PARLe odr platform
The JusticeBot project
Cyberjustice
Two views of how AI can be used in ODR
ODR as a public service
About Nicolas:
Dr. Vermeys is the Director of the Centre de recherche en droit public (CRDP), the Associate Director of the Cyberjustice Laboratory, and a Professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculté de droit.
Nicolas is a member of the Quebec Bar, and a certified information system security professional (CISSP), and is the author of numerous publications relating to the impact of technology on the law.
His research focuses on legal issues pertaining to artificial intelligence, information security, developments in the field of cyberjustice, and other questions relating to the impact of technological innovations on the law. He is often invited to speak on these topics by the media, and regularly lectures for judges, lawyers, professional orders, and government organisations, in Canada and abroad.
Learn more about Nicolas

Episode 17: Colm Brannigan and Marc Bhalla, co-authors of Online Dispute Resolution: Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

In this episode of the ICODR podcast, Ian interviews Colm Brannigan and Marc Bhalla, co-authors of the new book Online Dispute Resolution: Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
 
Colm Brannigan holds an M.A. in history and technology, an LL.B. from Queen’s University, and a LL.M.(ADR) from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. Colm is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in the U.K. and holds the advanced designation of Chartered Med-Arbitrator through the ADR Institute of Canada. He has been a full-time ADR practitioner for over 25 years. Colm is an acknowledged expert in the development of online dispute resolution (ODR) and med-arb processes and provides ODR and med-arb training through the Canadian Collaborative for Engagement & Conflict Management (https://www.ccecm.ca/). Colm has been a part-time instructor teaching ADR in the Faculty of Law at Queen’s University and at Humber College. He is frequently a guest lecturer at Queen’s University, Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Toronto and has also presented at continuing education programs and conferences provincially, nationally, and internationally.Colm can be contacted by e-mail at colm@mediate.ca or through his website www.mediate.ca.
 
Marc Bhalla is a mediator, arbitrator, writer and professor based in Toronto. He practices online. Marc has a Master of Laws in Dispute Resolution from Osgoode Hall Law School, where he is now a faculty member. Marc is also faculty at York University’s Certificate in Dispute Resolution program and at the Canadian Collaborative for Engagement & Conflict Management, where he teaches Online Dispute Resolution and Arbitration. Marc has spoken from coast-to-coast across Canada and in the United States. He has delivered keynote presentations at conferences in Regina, Saskatchewan and for International Mediation Awareness Week. Marc has been widely published, including in a number of peer-reviewed academic journals. His first book, The Art of Role Play in Dispute Resolution Training, was released in 2020. Marc is an original member of Ontario’s first online tribunal, where he has mediated and adjudicated cases since 2017; however, Marc is presenting in a personal capacity and is not speaking on behalf of the Condominium Authority Tribunal. Marc represents the Province of Ontario on the Board of Directors of the ADR Institute of Canada.

Episode 16: Dr. Tsisana Shamlikashvili, an international expert in ADR, mediator, lawyer, neurologist and psychologist

In this episode of the ICODR podcast, Ian interviews Dr. Tsisana Shamlikashvili, an international expert in ADR, international mediator, lawyer, neurologist and psychologist (with both medical and law degrees). She has been Professor of the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, holder of the chair in “Mediation in social practices”; academic and scientific supervisor of the Center for Mediation and ADR in legal practice of the Moscow State Academy of Law. However, since the commencement of the war on Ukraine, Tsisana has suspended all of her activities in Russia.
 
Since 2004 Tsisana studied mediation in the United States, Germany, Austria and Great Britain. She is a graduate of several Harvard Negotiation Program courses (including Frank Sanders’ Mediation Course), certified mediator in Water Diplomacy matters (joint program of MIT and Tufts University).
 
Tsisana is a CEDR accredited mediator, mediator of JAMS International (USA-UK), Member of Association for Integrated Mediation, Member of European Advisory Board of CPR, Council Member of Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University (USA), Associate Board Member of GEMME (European Judges' Group for Mediation), Board Member of AAPMAD (Association of Academics for the Promotion of Mediation as Academic Discipline), Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, Corporate member and expert for Dispute Board Federation (DBF).
 
Tsisana has been a pioneer in ADR and specially mediation in Russia and in former Soviet Union, directing her efforts and sometimes achievements on this very complicated path to implement mediation (and more importantly), mediative attitude (meaning shift of mentality) in that part of the world. Currently she acts as international expert, consultant in ADR, and International mediator.