The winner of the 2014 Tech for Justice Hackathon held at the ODR2014 conference in Silicon Valley has released a version of their app for the 2016-2017 school year.  Check it out at otterkids.com.

The OTTER platform:

• Mitigates bullying (Conflict resolution and SEL tools mitigate bullying)
• Offers built-in training (Kid-friendly, teacher-developed, conflict resolution training)
• Provides positive reinforcement (Encourages student reflection on the positive through guided questions)
• Is self-managing (The software helps students resolve their own conflicts)
• Delivers rich reporting data (Provides valuable SEL data in multiple areas for teachers and administrators)
• Sports an easy-to-use interface (Simple interface designed for kids. Works on desktop, tablets, and phones)

Very cool system, and definitely worth checking out.  Learn more at otterkids.com

Check out Rolando Ortega Hernandez’s new bi-lingual ODR blog odrobserver.blogspot.com.es

As he explains in the first post:

“Welcome to my blog, our blog, I’ve created this space to share information, opinions and it’ll be a free open space about Online Dispute Resolutions and access to justice, and other related subjects for citizens in the digital world. This blog will take and publish information both in English and Spanish.

Bienvenidos a mi blog, nuestro blog, he creado este espacio para compartir información, opiniones y funcionará como un espacio abierto referido a la Resolución de litigios en línea y el acceso a la justicia, y otras materias relacionadas para los ciudadanos en un mundo digital. Este blog, tomará y publicará información en Inglés y en Español.”

Feel free to visit the site and share your thoughts and feedback.

(Also remember that the latest news on ODR in Latin America, is always available at http://odrlatinoamerica.com!)

The Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA)  Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Program has been recognized with an Outstanding Project Award.

The ODR program, which expanded the departments existing mediation service, allows parties involved in mediation to negotiate electronically at their convenience, without the need for in-person communication.  The program targets a number of issues including landlord and tenant disputes, neighbor disputes, debt settlements, and more.

From the award announcement:

“The program was launched December 2014. As of March 2016, 230 cases were mediated using DCBA’s expanded services. Of the 230 cases, 133 cases were resolved at a resolution rate of 57%. Thanks to the ODR program, DCBA has been able to mediate cases more effectively and better serve populations who are unable to attend a traditional face to face mediation. This service will also help the department better serve the disabled population and consumers looking for a speedy and efficient way to resolve disputes.”

Here’s more on the project from Giuseppe Leone and the Virtual Mediation Lab, who did the initial training for the DCBA:
http://www.virtualmediationlab.com/virtual-mediation-lab-usa-international/why-the-online-dispute-resolution-system-of-los-angeles-countys-department-of-consumer-and-business-affairs-is-so-successful/

And from Lyn Johnson, an independent IT and ADR consultant:
http://lmjohnsonmediation.solutions/2015/12/observations-of-the-los-angeles-countys-department-of-consumer-and-business-affairs-online-dispute-resolution-system/

Via Graham Ross: A ground breaking Report has just been released by the ODR Advisory Group to the Civil Justice Council for an Internet based court service, provisionally called Her Majesty’s Online Court (HMOC), with judges hearing cases online and with much more effort in helping people resolve disputes without requiring  a judge.

The Advisory Group has set up a website that will grow over time. It contains the full Report as well as additional material and interviews with experts including Modria co-founder, Colin Rule and Professor  Ethan Katsh.  The Report itself can be downloaded from here.

The report suggests a 3 tier system that moves from diagnosis to facilitation to dispute resolution  Even for cases requiring a judge this system will offer services at lower cost bot to the parties (reduced fees) and to the court service.

There has been considerable publicity to these proposals in all the national UK press and media. A spokesperson for HMCTS (Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service) has publicly responded to say: ‘We welcome the publication of this important and thought-provoking report. We agree that On-line Dispute Resolution is an important area and one that we are actively exploring in more detail in the context of the reform of court and tribunal services.

We are keen to continue to engage with the ODR Advisory Group on their report and any future work that the Civil Justice Council may commission them to do.’ 

Read more here.

A new article in Legal Futures suggests that momentum is building behind calls for government to invest more heavily in ODR.  An excerpt of the article:

“…Professor Richard Susskind, who is heading a committee investigating ODR, has called for ODR to be explored in “greater depth and urgently”.

The report on the digital delivery of legal services to people on low incomeswas written by Professor Roger Smith, solicitor and former director of JUSTICE, and backed by the Legal Education Foundation (LEF).

He said the Dutch were leading the way with user-orientated legal advice websites, while British Columbia looked likely to be the first to deliver “online dispute determination” next year.

“If it was my money, I would want to see what was happening in Vancouver first,” Professor Smith told Legal Futures. “We can watch what happens and learn a lot”.

The professor said version two of the Dutch Rechtwijzer programme was due to go live in March 2015, which would take users to the point where Dutch law requires lawyers to review documentation before it is seen by judges.

Meanwhile in Canada, a Civil Resolution Tribunal would be set up in British Columbia next year, providing an alternative to the traditional small claims court.

Professor Smith said too many legal advice websites were based on print, with many still using the expression “fact sheet”. He went on: “The best sites, like the Dutch one, are turning themselves around so they ask questions of the user and identify exactly what the user wants. Airline websites don’t give you a suite of timetables – they ask you where you want to go.”

Professor Smith said Holland had led the way with user-orientated legal advice websites, funded by the Dutch legal aid board.

The LEF report recommended that the Ministry of Justice and Courts Service should commit to a “pilot small claims online dispute resolution programme”, from 2016 onwards.

In April, the Civil Justice Council (CJC) set up an advisory group, chaired by Professor Richard Susskind, to explore the role that online dispute resolution (ODR) can play in resolving civil disputes.

Professor Susskind spoke last month at a CJC event on litigants in person, and a newly published summary of the event reported him saying that there was no doubting the huge potential ODR offered in terms of resolving disputes quickly and cheaply.

ODR tended to take one of three forms – either a form of e-adjudication, a type of online ADR negotiation via IT or a tool for diagnosing problems.

The summary continued: “Good ODR systems were already available, and the question now was to what extent the state would take ownership of an ODR structure. In other jurisdictions, e.g. Holland and British Columbia, state-run services were in operation, and parking adjudications offered a UK model.

“There was no doubt ODR would appeal to the under 30s. It would not solve all disputes, but it was a topic that needed to be explored in greater depth and urgently.”’

Read the full article here:

http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/calls-for-government-invest-online-dispute-resolution-part-digital-legal-services-push

Today the UK Legal Ombudsman published a research report produced by Queen Margaret University looking at Models of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The aim of this research was to investigate what the Legal Ombudsman can learn from other ADR providers. The research was to help the Legal Ombudsman review and develop its dispute resolution model and ensure it remains fit-for-purpose.

ODR features prominently in the report, and is one of the four main areas of focus.  The eBay/PayPal experience is covered in some depth.  The ODR section is summarized thusly:

“Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) is the use of information and communications technology to help disputants find resolutions to their disputes and is emerging as an increasingly important approach for resolving consumer complaints. Initially designed to resolve high volume and low cost consumer e-commerce disputes, ODR has developed to enable its use for complaints about financial services, property tax and complaints to Ombudsman organisations, such as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). According to Fowlie (2011), the inaugural ICANN Ombudsman, ODR is a process that can be used to improve or supplement most ADR techniques. It applies both to online disputes and to real world complaints and can be technology-based or technology-assisted. In technology-based ODR, parties are helped through, for example, blind-bidding systems to arrive at an optimal outcome. Technology-assisted ODR uses tools to increase the efficiency of human-based approaches such as investigation, questioning, presenting options and communicating findings and may be particularly attractive to ombudsman and ADR organisations. This section gives an analysis of the key issues associated with ODR and assesses its potential, drawing from a case study looking at eBay’s system of dispute resolution.”

To read the full report, access the PDF here:

http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/downloads/documents/research/Models-Alternative-Dispute-Resolution-Report-141031.pdf

We thought it was time for a little refresh.

Please leave your thoughts in the comments!