Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Page 3
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Honors USC School of Law
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday announced its selection of the USC Gould School of Law to receive its ADR Education Award.
Established by the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit in 2005, the award recognizes law schools that have significantly advanced scholarship and research in alternate dispute resolution.
Court officials praised USC yesterday as “a leader in the ADR field,” noting that the school offers clinics in which students develop skills by mediating cases before the Los Angeles County Superior Court and has entered into a partnership with JAMS in which students are paired with JAMS neutrals for shadowing and mentoring.
USC’s core curriculum includes a basic class in negotiations and ADR, and additional classes in international negotiation, mediation and commercial arbitration are also offered, according to a release from the court.
The Ninth Circuit also selected Sujean Park, director of ADR and Pro Bono Programs for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California to receive the 2011 Robert F. Peckham Award for Excellence in ADR.
Named for the former chief district judge of the Northern District of California, who helped pioneer use of legal means other than court trials to resolve disputes, the Peckham award was established in 2001.
Court officials credited Park with “revitalizing” her court’s pro bono program, by having “more than doubled the number of attorneys willing to provide representation, organized training opportunities for them, and drafted policies for use of non-appropriated funds for pro bono purposes. She also has “significantly expanded the use of ADR in prisoner cases, including drafting proposed orders and writs, making logistical arrangements for settlement conferences, and promoting use of ‘live’ settlement conferences at correctional institutions, and via videoconferencing,” the court release said.
In addition, Park has worked with faculty members at the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific to establish a mediation clinic to aid prisoners located within the district.
She is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and Pepperdine Law School. Park also holds a business degree from Pepperdine.
Park previously worked for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and, after joining the State Bar in 2004, in private practice.
Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company