February 8, 2016
The nationally respected dispute resolution and procedural justice scholar Donna Shestowsky, a professor of law and Martin Luther King Jr. Research Scholar at UC Davis, will receive St. John’s 2016 Mangano Dispute Resolution Advancement Award.
The $5000 annual award honors scholars whose published empirical research has furthered the advancement and understanding of the values and skills of dispute resolution. It was established through the generosity of Hon. Guy J. Mangano '55, '83HON, who has dedicated his 40-year career to promoting dispute resolution, first as presiding justice of the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department, then as a state legislator, and now as an arbitrator and mediator.
A committee fielded from across St. John’s University conducted the award selection process under the leadership of Elayne E. Greenberg, assistant dean for dispute resolution programs, professor of legal practice, and director of the Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution. This year’s selection committee members were:
- Rodger M. Casselman, Associate Professor of Management
- Keith Sharfman, Professor of Law
- Jeff Sovern, Professor of Law
- Ettie Ward, Professor of Law
Research considered for the Mangano award has broad applicability to the alternate dispute resolution field, or focuses on the values and application of dispute resolution in a specific area. Interdisciplinary research is encouraged, and the findings should be published in a nationally respected journal within a specified period. In assessing a candidate, the selection committee also considers:
- The significance and quality of the research
- The interdisciplinary and/or innovative nature of the work
- The extent to which the research has started to impact the field
- The researcher’s reputation and capacity to continue being an agent of change
The committee selected Professor Shestowsky for the groundbreaking empirical research she reports on in her Iowa Law Review article, “The Psychology of Procedural Preference: How Litigants Evaluate Legal Procedures Ex Ante.” The research is part of a national longitudinal study examining how litigants decide how to resolve their disputes. This work was funded in large part through competitive grants from the National Science Foundation and the American Bar Association, as well as the University of California, Davis.
As overviewed at SSRN, Professor Shestowsky’s article explains how this research could be used to “advance procedural justice and mitigate the negative impact that the economic downturn has had on the resolution of civil cases.” It goes on to analyze: “(1) how attractive litigants find various legal procedures [ ]; (2) how they assess the relative probability that they will use each procedure; (3) how their attraction ratings and “expected use” estimates compare for each procedure; and (4) whether demographic, case type, relationship, and attitudinal factors predict their attraction to each procedure.”
The study reveals that litigants prefer mediation to non-binding arbitration by a wide margin. They also favor bench trials over jury trials, and negotiations involving both attorneys and clients over those involving just attorneys. Overall, her findings suggest that litigants prefer to be involved in their dispute resolution interventions. Professor Shestowsky will report more of her findings in subsequent articles in this multi-part, scholarly series.
The Mangano Award selection committee also recognized the strong credentials Professor Shestowsky brings to her work in the field. She earned a J.D. and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University. While at Stanford, she taught courses in legal psychology and established a research lab for undergraduates that was devoted to the empirical study of juries and dispute resolution processes. At UC Davis, she teaches Criminal Law, Negotiation Strategy, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and a Seminar in Legal Psychology.
“Professor Shestowsky’s research fills a gap in dispute resolution scholarship by focusing on actual litigants’ dispute resolution preferences,” Professor Greenberg says. “The richness of her research offers important insights for lawyers who want to work effectively with their clients, courts who seek to marshal their scarce resources, and legal educators who are shaping our future lawyers. As an added bonus, Professor Shestowsky’s research helps ground the ongoing conversations about client-centered lawyering and clients’ expectations of justice. So, it’s very fitting that she will receive the 2016 Mangano Dispute Resolution Advancement Award.”
Professor Greenberg will formally present the Mangano Award to Professor Shestowsky at the Carey Center’s annual reception on March 14, 2016.