Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution
What We Do
The Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution educates aspiring lawyers and accomplished practitioners in the essential values and effective skills necessary to resolve clients’ legal problems in today’s practice of law. The Carey Center is named in honor of the late Hon. Hugh L. Carey '51, a pioneer in dispute resolution who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and as Governor of New York.
About the Carey Center
The Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution educates law students and lawyers in the essential values and effective skills necessary to resolve clients’ legal problems in today’s practice of law. In today’s legal reality, most lawsuits are settled and fewer than 5% go to trial. To practice effectively, lawyers must not only know how to resolve client’s legal problems in court, but also how to negotiate settlements out of court.
Today’s settlement-focused legal practice also requires lawyers to be knowledgeable about the different dispute resolution processes that may help resolve a client’s case, including:
- Negotiation
- Mediation
- Arbitration
Lawyers must know how to work with clients and the other side to achieve a better win. Achieving a better win requires working with the client, the other party, and the other party’s attorney to select an appropriate dispute resolution process to achieve the most effective and expeditious solution, all the while respecting the humanity and dignity of all.
Our Curriculum
The Carey Center educates students about the problem-solving advocacy and dispute resolution skills needed to become an effective lawyer in domestic and global arenas. We support courses, clinics, co-curricular activities, and other programs that make the Law School a leader in the dispute resolution field. Second- and third-year law students can choose from a variety of courses offered by St. John's distinguished faculty, including:
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Drafting: ADR Documents
- International Commercial Arbitration
- International Dispute Resolution Advanced Topics
- International Litigation & Dispute Resolution
- Labor & Employment Arbitration
- Mediation: Representing Clients
- Negotiation (Intensive)
- Salary and Contract Negotiation in Sports
- Securities Arbitration Clinic
Dispute Resolution Society
The Carey Center works closely with and supports the Dispute Resolution Society (DRS), the Law School’s student-led, co-curricular organization dedicated to the study, practice, and advancement of alternative dispute resolution. DRS is both a skills-based training organization and a credit-bearing co-curricular competition team, preparing students to resolve disputes through negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. Interested students can try out for membership in the Dispute Resolution Society at the end of their 1L year. To learn more, please follow the Dispute Resolution Society on LinkedIn and on Instagram.
Our Programs
The Carey Center supports programming to foster connections and educate our students, alumni, and the broader ADR community. Recent highlights include:
- Providing negotiation training for attorneys from the New York State Division of Human Rights.
- Supporting the co-curricular teams’ Advocates in the Spotlight event in honor of the Law School’s 100-year anniversary.
- Supporting the Dispute Resolution Society’s annual alumni event, which brings together students, alumni, and faculty.
- Sponsoring the New York State Bar Association Dispute Resolution 2026 Annual Meeting, where Professor Elayne Greenberg was honored posthumously with the Charles M. Newman Award.
- Supporting the Ensuring Fairness and Impartiality in ADR panel program for students and alumni.
Our Faculty
The Carey Center is led by two members of the Law School's full-time faculty:
- Professor Elissa Germaine, Faculty Director
- Professor Lisa Dicker, Associate Faculty Director
Support the Center
To support the Carey Center and its initiatives, please visit the Law School's online giving page or contact the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at [email protected] or 718-990-5792.