21st most needed skills, mediation and disputes resolution skills and legal training

Abstract

The Justice System in Brazil struggles with a large stock of lawsuits. Despite the work of magistrates, lawsuits come in faster than they are solved. On the other hand, Law Schools focus on training lawyers to keep litigating. This research aims to understand how legal culture could be reoriented in such a manner that we could build a fairer and more peaceful society. In order to do that, first we analyze the current context of the Justice System, taking a deep look at its data. Then, as we realized that most of the disputes in adjudication currently could be more appropriately solved by ADR, we turned our eyes to how ADR tools and techniques can be used. Lastly, since we aim to achieve results on legal training, we study the skills needed to succeed on the job market. In conclusion, we found that Law Schools should focus on mediation and negotiation training and collaborative and strategic conflict resolution skills throughout the curriculum. If lawyers are trained strongly with skills to build consensus, to collaborate when solving conflicts, to negotiate and mediate, they will be able to design or help to design more adequate and customized solutions for the various disputes, contributing for a more peaceful society, a more efficient Justice System, while becoming a more competitive professional for the labor market.