Master of Legal Studies, MLS (in-person and online): If you are looking to enhance your career opportunities or improve your interpersonal and conflict resolution skills, this is the program for you.
Graduation Requirements
MLS graduation requirements (6 additional credits)
- U.S. Law and Legal Analysis – 3 credits
- Core MLS course – Torts, Contracts, Criminal Law, Administrative Law – 3 credits
Graduation Requirements – Conflict Resolution Emphasis Area – 18 credits
12 credit hours of conflict resolution study plus 6 credits required for the MLS degree
Courses and topics that are part of the available curriculum:
- U.S. Law and Legal Analysis
- Conflict Theory - 3 credits
- Negotiation - 3 credits
- Mediation - 3 credits
- Arbitration – 3 credits
- Dispute Systems Design – 3 credits
- Divorce and Family Mediation – 3 credits
- Organizational and Workplace Dispute Resolution – 3 credits
- Psychology of Conflict – 3 credits
- And more
Legal education often centers on the trial and appellate process. However, only a small fraction of cases ever go to trial in the United States. For example, the Arizona Supreme Court reports that in 2017, of nearly 2 million civil and criminal cases filed in Arizona courts, 98.8 percent were resolved prior to trial. The Lodestar Center provides opportunities to develop expertise in the processes through which most legal matters are resolved: negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.
The Lodestar Dispute Resolution Center expands ASU Law’s efforts to understand the nature of conflict and its impact on the effectiveness of dispute resolution. Through research, teaching, and service, students, lawyers, and non-legal professionals learn the problem-solving methods and skills that lawyers and other conflict resolution professionals employ regularly to prevent and resolve disputes.
Lodestar Dispute Resolution Center
