Peter Robinson

Professor Emeritus

Straus, Caruso School of Law

310.506.4676

Biography

Professor Robinson's humor, energy and ability to articulate lessons from his mediation experiences have made him a popular lecturer and trainer; he has presented advanced negotiation and mediation skills courses in more than thirty states and in Argentina, Canada, England, Holland, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, France, and Rwanda.

Prior to joining the Pepperdine community, he served as the director of the Christian Conciliation Service of Los Angeles (CCS), a non-profit dispute resolution center, and a staff attorney for a U.S. Government agency that insures pension benefits pursuant to ERISA. He has served on the board of CCS, Ventura Center for Dispute Settlement, Dispute Resolution Services of the LACBA, the Southern California Mediation Association (SMCA), and the California Dispute Resolution Council. The SCMA recognized him as Peacemaker of the Year in 1999. He is an honorary fellow of the International Academy of Mediators. The Los Angeles Magazine has recognized Professor Robinson as a Southern California Super Lawyer in the area of mediation, intermittently since 2006.

Education

J.D., Hastings College of Law, 1980
B.A., University of California, San Diego, 1977, magna cum laude

Articles

Peter Robinson, An Empirical Study of Settlement Conference Nuts and Bolts: Settlement Judges Facilitating Communication, Compromise, and Fear, 17 HARV. NEGOT. L. REV. 97 (2012)
Peter Robinson, Opening Pandora's Box: An Empirical Exploration of Judicial Settlement Ethics and Techniques, 27 OHIO ST. J. on DISP. RESOL. 53 (2012) HeinOnline
Peter Robinson, Settlement Conference Judge - Legal Lion or Problem Solving Lamb: An Empirical Documentation of Judicial Settlement Conference Practices and Techniques, 33 AM. J. TRIAL ADVOC. 113 (2009) SSRN HeinOnline
Peter Robinson, Adding Judicial Mediation to the Debate about Judges Attempting to Settle Cases Assigned to Them for Trial, 2006 J. DISP. RESOL. 335 (2006) HeinOnline
Peter Robinson, Arthur Pearlstein, & Bernard Mayer, DyADS: Encouraging "Dynamic Adaptive Dispute Systems" in the Organized Workplace, 10 HARV. NEGOT. L. REV. 339 (2005) HeinOnline
Peter Robinson, Centuries of Contract Common Law Can't Be All Wrong: Why the UMA's Exception to Mediation Confidentiality in Enforcement Proceedings Should be Embraced and Broadened, 2003 J. DISP. RESOL. 135 (2003) HeinOnline
Peter Robinson & L. Randolph Lowry, Mediation Confidential, L.A. LAW., May 2001, at 28 HeinOnline
Peter Robinson, Gregory L. Ogden, & Alana Knaster, Public Sector Dispute Resolution in Local Government: Lessons from the SCAG Project, 1 PEPP. DISP. RESOL. L.J. 177 (2001)SSRN HeinOnline
Peter Robinson et al., Teaching a New Paradigm: Must Knights Shed their Swords and Armor to Enter Certain ADR Arenas?, 1 CARDOZO J. CONFLICT RESOL. (1999) (symposium issue)

Presentations

Taught three days of conflict management skills to hospice professionals in Nashville, Tenn., 2011.
Spoke to Peer Mediators from the Asian Pacific Dispute Resolution Center in Los Angeles, 2011.
Lead faculty for the six day Mediating the Litigated Case at Pepperdine, 2011.
Hosted an all Straus alumni, faculty and students for a back to school BBQ, 2011.
Taught three days of conflict management skills to hospice professionals in Nashville,Tenn., 2011.
Keynote speaker at the Pearlman Conference for Surety professionals, Seattle, Wa., 2011.
Lunch speaker at the retreat for the Weinstien Fellows from JAMS, Napa, Ca., .
Provided four days of negotiation training for IRS employees who implement international tax treaties, Washington DC, 2011.
A five day workshop on How to Teach a Law School Mediation Class for Chinese Professors, hosted by the Beijing Arbitration Commission and funded by a grant by the US-China Legal Cooperation Fund, 2011.
Advanced Mediation Skills for the San Diego Association of Realtors Mediation Program, 2011.
A workshop on the Use and Misuse of Apology in Mediation and a second workshop on the Use and Misuse of Forgiveness in Mediation at the Annual Conference for California's Family Court Mediators sponsored by the Administrative Office of the Courts, 2011.
A half day workshop on Negotiation Skills for the Maryland State's Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office, 2011.
The six day Mediating the Litigated Case program in partnership with the Calgary University School of Law in Calgary Canada, 2011.
Served as one of four planners and facilitate a panel discussion at a conference on Teaching ADR in Law Schools at Pepperdine University, 2011.
The keynote address on The Use and Misuse of Apology in Mediation at the California Dispute Resolution Council's annual conference, 2010.
The six-day Mediating the Litigated Case program in Partnership with the Kuala Lumpur Regional Dispute Resolution Agency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2010.
A luncheon address on The Convergence of Policies that Combine to Undermine the Public's Mediation Experience for the Solano County Bar Association and Court Annexed Mediation Program, 2010.
A three-day program on the STAR Approach to Mediation, in partnership with the Vermont Law School in Woodstock, Vermont, 2010.
An Intensive Academic Course on Apology, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation for Lipscomb University, 2010.

Topics

Dispute Resolution
Mediation