Last Night at Harvard, We Announced “Can ODR Change the World?”
Published also on the LMI Network LinkedIn Newsletter.
Last night at the Harvard Faculty Club, during the opening dinner for fellows of the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution (NCTDR), I had the honor of announcing the release of our new feature documentary, Can ODR Change the World? The Story and Promise of Online Dispute Resolution. We premiered the trailer and a special mini-documentary honoring Ethan Katsh, the father of ODR, whose pioneering work in the 1990s at UMass Amherst started it all. The full film is now available on YouTube (here in English and Spanish) and at LMIPodcast.com/FILM/ODR. This gathering kicked off ODR2026, three days of programming at Harvard and Suffolk Law School dedicated to the evolution of ODR. More information is available at odr2026.org.
During my presentation, I shared the core motivation for this film: creating broader awareness of ODR. In his book Oversubscribed, Daniel Priestley notes that for a brand to truly resonate, people must interact with it eleven times, across seven hours, in four different locations. Consider the ODR “brand” by comparison. Aside from the rare legal dispute, and only if mediation is mandated and the mediator utilizes technology, most people will never encounter ODR. This remains true despite the internet putting conflict resolution just clicks away. Furthermore, the pandemic-era “Zoom boom” convinced many that basic video conferencing is ODR. This overlooks ODR standards, safety protocols, and process effectiveness. For many, ODR was reduced to simply logging onto Zoom and hoping for a successful mediation.
I told the group that simply using vanilla Zoom is not the full story of this field, nor is it its promise. The internet holds the potential to democratize justice and foster a global culture of peace. However, this potential can only be realized if we educate the public about the history and future of real ODR, rather than keeping that knowledge to ourselves within the conflict resolution industry. This realization struck me after ODR2025 last May in London: we were talking to each other, but the world was not listening.
This film is my response. It represents a natural evolution of my work over the years through the Lawyers & Mediators International podcast (lmipodcast.com): bringing educational content about dispute resolution into the mainstream.
What’s Happening at ODR2026
The announcement dinner was only the beginning. Throughout the conference, the global ODR community is exploring the critical questions shaping the field’s future.
On Thursday, June 11, sessions at Harvard’s Rubenstein Treehouse include: AI and the future of negotiation training, guidance on AI usage for human third parties under ODR standards, and ODR in the courts, featuring insights from judges and innovators in Singapore, Colombia, and Israel.
On Friday, June 12, the conference moves to Suffolk Law School for sessions on: AI-assisted arbitrators and predictive outcome tools, the ethics and regulation of AI, technology in family mediations, and a featured session with the Hon. Judge Xavier Rodriguez of the Western District of Texas on AI’s impact on federal court practice.
Watch & Share the Film
Can ODR Change the World? is currently streaming on the LMI Network’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/@lminetwork and is embedded at LMIPodcast.com/film/odr.
If this mission of awareness resonates with you, I have one request: share the film with someone outside the dispute resolution field. That is how we spread the story.
My deepest thanks to everyone who volunteered their time and provided the access needed to capture this story. This film belongs to you. Special thanks to the volunteer mediators at the DRC of Montgomery County in Conroe, Texas, for showcasing the realities of online mediation.
Mac Pierre-Louis, J.D., M.Ed. – Lawyers & Mediators International | LMINetwork.com | LMIPodcast.com
Photos from event: https://photos.app.goo.gl/TYBUUnaejP2z54SBA
