Daniel Rainey (http://danielrainey.us/) has been asked to join the Uniform Law Commission (ULC – https://www.uniformlaws.org/home) as an observer to the study committee following the work of the U.N. Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation.  According to the ULC’s self description, the ULC “(also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws), established in 1892, provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.”   The study committee is focused on the Singapore Convention and its impact.  As an observer, Rainey will bring an online dispute resolution (ODR) perspective to the committee’s deliberations, and will introduce a discussion of the Universal Disclosure Protocol for Mediation (UDPM – https://universaldisclosureprotocolmediation.com/ or https://udpm.org).

• In 2020 the International Journal of Online Dispute Resolution (http://www.international-odr.com/​) will publish its first International Student Edition.
• An invitation will be issued for all graduate students in Law Schools, Dispute Resolution degree programs, and related academic programs internationally to submit articles to the IJODR.
• The subject matter of the articles is open: any topic related to online dispute resolution (ODR) will be considered.
• The articles will be reviewed by an international panel of ODR experts, and final decisions regarding publications will be made by the IJODR co-Editors-in-Chief, Daniel Rainey, Ethan Katsh, and Mohamed S. Abdel-Wahab.
• Manuscripts must be between 3000-5000 words, and must conform to the Eleven style guide (​http://www.international-odr.com/documenten/eleven_stylesheet_2013_ijodr.pdf​).
• Manuscripts must be submitted to Daniel Rainey at ​daniel@danielrainey.us​ no later than 1 April 2020.
• Questions regarding the journal or potential submissions can be addressed to any of the following email addresses: daniel@danielrainey.us – ethan.katsh@gmail.com – msw@zulficarpartners.com

The International Council for Online Dispute Resolution (ICODR) Training and Education Committee has begun work on its primary mission: to develop, disseminate, and manage ODR training norms or standards that serve the community of ​trainers​, third parties​ and the ​primary parties​ whom they may serve, as well as the developers and platform providers who constitute the corps of ​fourth parties​ providing ICT platforms.

The Committee’s work will serve the ​trainers​ by establishing standards that ensure current, accurate, and applicable content for ODR training. The ICODR seal of approval will be the hallmark ODR trainers strive to meet and proudly display.

The Committee will be developing a process for training approval management to be handled by ICODR.

The Committee’s work will serve the community of ​third parties​ by assuring them that by taking ICODR approved training they are working to maintain competency and currency in the practice of ODR.

The Committee’s work will serve the ​primary parties​ by giving them a trusted means of determining the preparation and training of third parties they may use to assist in the resolution of disputes.

The Committee’s work will serve the​ fourth party​ community by establishing training standards that will give guidance to those developing and managing ODR platforms to ensure effective and ethical performance.

In pursuit and maintenance of its work, the ICODR Training and Education Committee is committed to engaging in an open and transparent process of discussion and development, including a full cross-section of the ODR community.