ANNA KING
Assistant News Editor
Pepperdine University School of Law’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution is ranked as the nation’s No.-1 program in 2005 by U.S. News & World Report, and as of Jan. 23 the institute has appointed two new co-directors, Peter Robinson and Thomas Stipanowich. Robinson will serve as managing director of the institute, while Stipanowich will fill the role of academic director.
The Straus Institute offers graduate students, mainly, the skills necessary to solve and mediate conflict in any situation or profession they may encounter.
The Institute offers a Master’s of Law degree, Master’s of Dispute Resolution degree and Certificate in Dispute Resolution for students through Pepperdine’s School of Law.
The skills acquired during any of the programs are beginning to attract more students from a variety of professions and places along their career paths.
“The ability to be educated and skillful in dispute resolution is a life skill, no matter what profession,” Robinson said. “Headed into law, lawyers need to be experts in solving conflict effectively. However, any organization’s leader and anyone in relationships can benefit. More and more we are connecting with students in business, psychology and Seaver undergraduates.”
The new directors’ hope to maintain the reputation of the program, as well as improve it.
“We are all very proud of the program,” Robinson said. “It has the reputation and recognition as the best program in the country. In the end, (the program’s success) comes down to getting the best professors possible. It is something that I have focused on and will continue to focus on. Students should be eager to go to class because the professor is knowledgeable and committed to his discipline.”
Dispute resolution has long been a focus of the university, and through the implementation of the institute, the school was able to see its mission through even further.
“Twenty years ago the law school made dispute resolution one of its focuses because it is so in tune with the mission of the university,” Robinson said. “We wanted to be able to train lawyers to be able to represent their client, but also do it in a way that is sensitive to their underlying relationships.”
The Institute has been the top ranking dispute resolution program in the nation for five of the past seven years. Robinson believes this is a result of the strength of the program and its impression on those who experience it.
“The former director, Randy Lowry, believed that if people came and experienced Pepperdine and the program, they would always have a good perception of Pepperdine,” Robinson said. “The people who do the rankings are other law professors who have come to Pepperdine to teach, attend conferences or simply sit in classes and see what goes on in the program and the enthusiasm from students and professors. Between the classes, projects and conferences, the Straus program has the whole package.”
In addition to their graduate programs, during the summer sessions undergraduate students are also invited to participate in a unique program designed by the Straus Institute in the field of dispute resolution.
Students who complete the program will receive a certificate in dispute resolution.
While enrolled in the program, students take two specialized classes in the fields of communication and psychology in accordance with Seaver curriculum. In partnership with the law school, throughout the session professors from the law school will continually add to and support the learning that occurs in the classroom with essential dispute resolution skills.
Although they may be the new directors of one of the most successful programs in the nation, the two new administrators are hardly new to the Institute and its mission.
Peter Robinson has served as the associate director of the Straus Institute since 1990, and for the past 18 months has served as its acting director.
Prior to working at Pepperdine, Robinson was the director of the Christian Conciliation Service of Los Angeles (CCS), a non-profit dispute resolution center, as well as a staff attorney for a U.S. Government agency that insures pension benefits pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
He has served on several boards, including the California Dispute Resolution Council, and has been recognized as the Peacemaker of the Year by the Southern California Mediation Association, as well as a “California Super Lawyer” in mediation.
Stipanowich has served since 2001 as President and CEO of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR Institute), a nonprofit research and educational institution in New York City.
While working at the University of Kentucky as the William L. Matthews Professor of Law, Stipanowich also authored a number of books and articles on mediation, arbitration and conflict management.
He has served on a number of boards including the Advisory Committee to the Global Disputes Research Center.
Stipanowich will join the faculty at the law school as a full-time professor in addition to his director position.
02-09-2006