ICODR 2006: The virtual moot court

The hosts of CyberWeek opened up registration for their 5th annual online dispute resolution competition, ICODR, that will include mediation, negotiation, arbitration, and litigation problems resolved entirely ONLINE.

This looks like a great opportunity for both students and faculty to familiarize themselves with some of the technology available to facilitate dispute resolution with participants from around the world in a cost-effective manner. Interested faculty can volunteer as evaluators or just observe the competitions in progress for the duration of the competition.

The technology platform is West Workspace, a version of EMC's eRoom, that provides a virtual collaboration area to share documents and post messages about the dispute.

Much like Michigan's recent decision requiring their high school students take at least one online course before graduating, law school's should start getting comfortable with the idea that future dispute resolution may be handled exclusively online. Virtual competitions like ICODR seem like a great way for both faculty and students to learn the process.