Our students study Dispute Resolution with leading faculty and practitioners through Cardozo’s renowned clinics and courses. The Program is home to the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution and sponsors an annual symposium on critical issues in domestic and international dispute resolution. Cardozo's dispute resolution program is just one of two programs that received an A+ rating from preLaw Magazine.
International Advocate for Peace Award: Honoring Peace Through Science Diplomacy
On March 6, 2025, the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution (CJCR) presented the 24th International Advocate for Peace (IAP) Award to Zafra Lerman, President of the Malta Conferences Foundation, scientist, educator, and humanitarian.
Spotlight on Arbitration at Cardozo Law
This spring, Professor Myriam Gilles hosted a series of events highlighting challenges to mandatory arbitration in employment and consumer contracts in the U.S.
On Thursday, March 27th, Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky sat down with Professor Myriam Gilles to discuss work to eliminate forced arbitration in cases of sexual harassment and assault. Carlson and Roginsky are leading advocates for the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Harassment Act and, co-founders of Lift Our Voices, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating NDAs and forced arbitration in cases of workplace toxicity.
Carlson was a prominent Fox News journalist who sued CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment, sparking a seismic shift in the industry. Her lawsuit led to Ailes' swift ousting, a $20 million settlement, and a rare public apology from Fox News. Roginsky is a recognized political consultant who has focused her career on mentoring and empowering women to become engaged in the political process. During the event, Roginsky also spoke about her own experience filing a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against the Fox News Channel, as well as her advocacy to eliminate the silencing mechanisms that prevent survivors of workplace toxicity from coming forward about their experiences.
On April 1, Professor Gilles (above right) hosted Princeton Professor Sarah Staszak (above left), who spoke to Cardozo students about her latest book, Privatizing Justice: Arbitration and the Decline of Public Governance (Oxford University Press, 2024). The book investigates the institutional, legal, and political development of the expanding use of private arbitration. Staszak’s work on litigation and arbitration, as well as gender and campaign finance, has received awards from the American Political Science Association’s sections on Law and Courts and Race and Ethnic Politics, respectively.
The Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution Melnick Symposium: The Next Century of Challenges for the Federal Arbitration Act
Join us on November 7! Scholars, arbitral institution leaders, practitioners, advocates, and legislators will be asked to comment on these themes and discuss present and future challenges to ensuring the success of the next 100 years.
Ayanna Behin Joins Kukin Program Faculty
Professor Ayanna Behin has joined Professor Amanda Berman to teach Innovations in Justice, a course that introduces students to a justice approach where community building and healing is at the forefront. Professor Behin is the Director of Training & Conflict Consulting at the New York Peace Institute. In addition to being an experienced mediator, Professor Behin is also a NYPI Apprenticeship Mentor and has been coaching the New York Police Department and mediators-in-training since 2017.
New Class: Mass Torts: Victim-Survivor Settlement Funds
This spring, Professor Simone Lelchuk (pictured here) taught a new course on Mass Tort Victim-Survivor Settlement Funds. The course is designed as an interactive workshop to introduce students to how independent mass tort claims programs are designed and operate to compensate victim-survivors of mass tragedies and situations involving multiple survivors outside the traditional tort litigation system.
Professor Lelchuk is a mediator and mass tort claim administrator, and her work focuses on mass torts, sexual harassment and assault, sexual discrimination, and Title IX. She recently mediated a class action lawsuit brought by the sexual abuse victim-survivors of Jeffrey Epstein against Deutsche Bank; this case settled for $75 million dollars. Professor Lelchuk also served as the independent Claims Examiner to allocate the Sexual Misconduct Claims Fund, a fund established to compensate the victim-survivors of Harvey Weinstein and to resolve sexual abuse claims against Harvey Weinstein and two of the companies with which he was affiliated (Disney/Miramax and The Weinstein Company).
Kukin Program Director Andrea Schneider's Paper 'The New Glass Ceiling' Published in Wisconsin Law Review
This winter, Kukin Program Director and Professor of Law Andrea Schneider, along with Abigail R. Bogli (Quarles & Brady LLP) and Hannah L. Chin (Whitefish Bay School District), had their paper, entitled The New Glass Ceiling published in Wisconsin Law Review (2024 Wis. L. Rev. 1687).
Their work discusses gender inequality in the legal profession, addressing misperceptions and providing new case studies showing women are underrepresented in leadership roles and underpaid relative to their colleagues. In addition, Andrea, Abigail, and Hannah provide crucial, incisive questions that law school students and career service offices can use to better investigate the problem, especially as students contemplate career decisions.
Robyn Weinstein Appointed to Statewide Advisory Committee on ADR
On October 29, Robyn Weinstein, director of the Cardozo Mediation Clinic and Associate Director of the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution, was appointed to the Statewide Advisory Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution.
The Committee’s expert group of judges, lawyers, ADR practitioners, and academics is charged with examining the services currently accessible within the court system and making recommendations for improvement and expansion. Weinstein's official appointment was announced by Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson.
Seeking Justice for the Cayuse Five
On March 3, 2025, the Kukin Program and the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR) co-hosted two programs featuring the work of Professor Michael Moffitt, Roberta (Bobbie) Connor (director of Tamástslikt Cultural Institute), and Joe Baker (co-founder and director of the Lenape Center). The events served to highlight and connect the work by Professor Moffit and his students at University of Oregon Clark Honors College to support the Cayuse tribe in their search for the burial location of the “Cayuse Five,” with that of the Lenape Center and CLIHHR.
The lunchtime program included a discussion with Moffit and Connor, moderated by Kukin Program Director Professor Andrea Schneider, about Moffit and Connor’s collaboration with the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute and Howie Arnett, a leading expert on Indian Law in Oregon. The second event was moderated by Professor Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum and included a discussion among Joe Baker (co-founder and director of the Lenape Center), Conner, and Moffit. The program explored the connections between the work of Connor and Moffit and the work of Baker and the Lenape Center. Both discussions explored broader questions about the potential role and effectiveness of conflict resolution tools, such as repatriation and Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, in addressing historical injustices.
About the Cayuse Five The story of the Cayuse Five began in the mid-1840s, American settlers flocked westward on the Oregon Trail, unknowingly bringing with them measles and other foreign diseases to which the Cayuse peoples along the trail had no immunity. Hundreds of Cayuse children were brought to Narcissa and Marcus Whitman at the Whitman Mission for treatment, but ultimately these children could not be saved. In 1847, members of the Cayuse Tribe, acting under Cayuse law to dispose of false doctors (medicine men, or tewat), participated in an attack on the Presbyterian Whitman Mission in Walla Walla Washington, killing the Whitmans and eleven others. After a two-year pursuit, the US Government demanded the Cayuse turn over five men to be punished in exchange for a short-lived peace. The five Cayuse men – despite considerable evidence that some or none of the men had participated in the attack – were found guilty, hanged, and buried in unmarked graves. Today, their burial site remains unknown.
A Winning Year for the Cardozo Dispute Resolution Competition Honor Society
The Cardozo Dispute Resolution Competition Honor Society (DRCHS) had a remarkable year of achievements, showcasing the strength of Cardozo’s dispute resolution training both at home and abroad. DRCHS teams also traveled across the U.S. and internationally to represent Cardozo in prestigious competitions. At the 2025 CPR International Mediation Competition in São Paulo, Brazil, the negotiation team of Alan Gitelman ’26 and Rachel Sadow ’26 won first place. Maya Horowich ’26 was awarded second place for her performance as a mediator. Follow the link to read more.
Danielle Haziza LL.M. ‘24. Wins First Prize from the American Journal of Mediation
Danielle Haziza’s article, “Trapped in Marriage in New York: Getting the Get with Alternative Dispute Resolution” won the first-place prize in the 2024 American Journal of Mediation National Dispute Resolution Writing Competition.
Cardozo LL.M. Students at International Commercial & Investment Arbitration Moot in Washington, D.C.
Dimitra Paleologos, LL.M. ‘25, Kenza Khiar, LL.M. ‘25, and Denise Pasi, LL.M. ‘25, represented Cardozo at the LL.M. International Commercial & Investment Arbitration Moot Competition organized the Washington College of Law Center on International Commercial Arbitration. The team was coached by Lola Costello, LL.M. ‘24, and Alejandro Martínez, LL.M. ‘23.
Dr. Zaza Johnson Elsheikh’s Speaks on Non-Western Forms of ADR for Commercial Disputes
On Thursday, November 21, 2024, The Cardozo Dispute Resolution Society hosted an event featuring Dr. Zaza Johnson Elsheikh, who led an insightful discussion on the practice of Suhl, a blend of mediation and arbitration, and its profound alignment with middle eastern cultural and religious expectations. She shared its historical roots, tracing back to the 7th century, where it first appeared in pre-Islamic times.
CJCR Melnick Symposium: Is Mediation a Sleeping Beauty? 10th Anniversary
On November 8, 2024, the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution (CJCR) hosted the Melnick Symposium, "Is Mediation A Sleeping Beauty?", sparking deep reflection on the role of mediation today. It was inspired by the 10th Anniversary of the 2014 CJCR Symposium by the same name. This Symposium was a capstone event for a series of international conferences that Professors Lela P. Love and Giuseppe De Palo hosted in Trento, Hong Kong, Doha, Sao Paulo, Hague, Netherlands, and Istanbul.
Cardozo Honors Lela Love at a Peace Gala Celebration
On a memorable November evening that celebrated Lela Love’s extraordinary contributions to the Kukin Program in Conflict Resolution and Cardozo Law School. The event was marked by heartfelt tributes and an inspiring musical performance by clinic alumni Kwanza Jones ‘99.
Dean Melanie Leslie, spoke about Love’s vision and perseverance in building the Kukin Program. “Lela Love created this program through a sheer force of will, and she never stopped,” Dean Leslie remarked. “She believed in her vision, she pursued it relentlessly every day at Cardozo, and the results are visible tonight in the tremendous outpouring of support from our alumni.”
Another highlight of the evening was a conversation among ADR Visionaries Professor Love, Professor Homer La Rue of Howard University School of Law and The Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.) moderated by Kukin Program Director Andrea Schneider.
As Director of the Kukin Program, Professor Andrea Schneider praised Love’s trailblazing leadership, saying, “I am truly honored to be her successor, knowing that she has impacted New York City and the entire globe with her drive for peace and peacefulness.” Robyn Weinstein, Director of the Cardozo Mediation Clinic and alumni, expressed the deep reverence held for Love by comparing her work to the spreading of seeds. “Lela, you sow to every wind, picking seeds full of potential and spreading them everywhere,” Weinstein reflected. “The impact of your work, scholarship, and leadership has spread so far—I am certain the seeds have landed in places we cannot yet imagine.”
As the evening drew to a close, Love took the stage to express her gratitude to the attendees, acknowledging the collective efforts that have contributed to the Kukin Program’s success. She invited the audience to stand as she recognized various groups who had supported her work over the years, including members of the mediation clinic, co-authors, editors, professors, and participants in mediation contests. By the end of her speech, all attendees were on their feet. Love, in turn, shared the spotlight, encouraging the audience to give themselves a round of applause. The resulting standing ovation was a fitting tribute to her enduring legacy.
Adding to the evening’s significance, Kwanza Jones ’99, a former student of Love’s, performed John Lennon’s Imagine in a moving sing-along that resonated deeply with the audience. Jones, an artist, philanthropist, and catalyst for change, encapsulated the evening’s theme of unity and hope. The gala was a testament not only to Lela Love’s tireless dedication but also to the Kukin Program’s continued impact on the field of dispute resolution.
Celebrating 50 Years of CAMP
2024 marked the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Appeals Management Program (CAMP) at the Appellate Division, Second Department. CAMP is among the oldest appellate dispute resolution programs in the country. A celebration was held on October 9th at the Appellate Division Courthouse, which brought together alumni, colleagues, and members of the judiciary to reflect on CAMP’s lasting impact and its future role in shaping civil appeals. The distinguished speakers included Hon. Cheryl E. Chambers, Hon. Joseph Covello (ret.), Hon. Gabriel M. Krausman (ret.), Anne D. Pope, Esq., Brian J. Isaac, Esq., and Joel A. Sweetbaum, Esq.
The program was moderated by Glen Parker ‘10 and LL.M. ‘11, who is the Assistant Deputy Chief Appellate Court Attorney, and alternative dispute resolution coordinator at CAMP.
Alumni Spotlight
(Pictured top row left to right)
Clymer Bardsley ‘04, is the ADR Advisor at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law.
Xènia Campàs Gené DRA LL.M. ‘23, is a Legal Affairs Associate at the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Diana Miller ‘24, joined William Schwitzer & Associates as a Law Clerk.
Pictured bottom row (left to right)
Caterina Cesario DRA LL.M. ‘23, joined Tarter Krinsky & Drogin as an associate in the firm’s International Practice.
Jeff Soilson ‘97, recently co-founded Quantum Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Lara Traum ‘16 was elected President of New York State Council on Divorce Mediation.
Se Won Park ‘23 joined the Dispute Resolution Practice at Hourani & Partners as an associate. Park is also editor for the Kluwer Arbitration Blog and recently published "Seoul Arbitration Festival 2024: New and Renewable Energy Landscape in Korea and Beyond."
