As leaders of the bar and as alumni of law schools all over the county, we should work to encourage this type of legal education, for it would make conferences such as this unnecessary in the future. In addition, our law firms and companies are the consumers of legal education. In that role, we should be hiring new attorneys who have included in their legal education these problem solving courses and skills training. If we truly seek to advance the goals espoused by this conference, our decisions in the hiring marketplace will create a demand at the law schools for the type of courses I have described. By supplementing the legal education curriculum in this way, we can make lawyers better instruments of society and more responsive to the needs of their clients.
Conflict takes many forms, and arises in all sorts of contexts.
For businesses, conflict may simply be an additional cost to bear, another irritant or obstacle on the road to commercial success. But for others in our society, conflict can have far greater consequences. I know that the theme of this Conference is making greater use of ADR in business and commercial enterprises. I agree that is a worthy and very necessary goal to set. At the same time, we must look beyond our law firms and corporations, and examine the communities in which we are located to see if we are doing enough to improve the environment in which our business is conducted.