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Technology is revolutionizing the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) field. Despite the long-held assumptions that increasing understanding, building empathy, and crafting resolution are only possible in-person, effective ways have emerged for assisting the resolution of the exploding number of disputes that have burgeoned online. Technology has become the “fourth party” through the growing field of online dispute resolution (ODR), which includes use of technology and computer-mediated-communication (CMC) in negotiation, mediation, arbitration and other dispute resolution processes. ODR is infiltrating family law and even courts are starting to employ ODR in family cases. Expedited divorces and tracking parenting plans with little court involvement garner appeal amidst growing expectation that everything should be available with a few “clicks” or “swipes” on our technological devices. These expectations and opportunities place new responsibilities on the field and its practitioners. How can we best integrate technology into ADR—both online and off? How can we prevent the rush to digitization from ignoring due process and transparency in the name of efficiency? Accordingly, this Article will discuss the value of ODR for family disputes and highlight key concepts and ODR standards to consider for ethical design and employment of technology in family dispute resolution. This is the submitted version of the article. The published version may be found at 59 Family Court Review 250 (April 2021) Wiley Online Library

Cet article porte sur un projet de commemoration a Belfast-ouest qui questionne les recits dominants par lesquels la violence d’Etat se soustrait aux interrogations, et qui exige que ces actes soient reconnus et repares. Le circuit de memoire propose un contre-recit, en presentant des souvenirs qui contestent les constructions hegemoniques et expriment la necessite de justice. La temporalite du circuit, ainsi que son insistance a donner a voir le conflit au lieu de lisser le passe, temoignent de son caractere novateur et necessaire dans une societe en transition.

The growing scholarship on inequality that occurs in mediation raises questions that challenge the underlying assumptions of the field. Reliance on mediator neutrality and the self-determination of parties masks the realities of how mediation can and does produce and reproduce substantive and procedural inequality. Critical interrogation of both the hegemonic paradigm and its practices permits insight into how this operates and points to the importance of learning from other paradigms and developing new strategies for addressing this dilemma.