Michael Moffitt
Philip H. Knight Chair, Professor | Faculty Fellow, Clark Honors College
Biography
Michael Moffitt holds the Philip H. Knight Chair in Law at the University of Oregon, where he also teaches as a Faculty Fellow at the Clark Honors College. Michael previously served for six years as the Dean of the Law School at Oregon and for two years as the Roger D. Fisher Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School. A graduate of Marietta College and Harvard Law School, Michael has consulted on high-stakes negotiations for private and public sector clients in more than twenty countries. He previously served as the Clinical Supervisor of the Mediation Program at Harvard Law School, and he continues to mediate a range of disputes and contracts in both the private and public sectors. An award-winning teacher, student advisor, and Dispute Resolution scholar, he currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Marietta College (Ohio), on the Advisory Board of Impactivize.org, and as Chair of the Board of Directors of Consensus Building Institute (Massachusetts). His recent scholarship includes Settlement Malpractice, 86 University of Chicago Law Review 1825 (2019) and No News (read: successful lawsuits against mediators) is Good News?, 12 Texas A&M L. Rev. 709 (2025). Michael used to be good at tennis and is now enthusiastically adequate at hiking slowly.
Areas of Expertise
Publications:
Full Length Law Review Articles
No News (read: successful lawsuits against mediators) is Good News?, 12 Texas A&M L. Rev. 709 (2025).
Truth. Regardless of Reconciliation? 24 Nevada Law Journal 1024 (2024)
Settlement Malpractice, 86 University of Chicago Law Review 1825 (2019)
Islands, Vitamins, Salt, Germs: Four Visions of the Future of ADR in Law Schools, 25 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 25 (2010).
Three Things to Be Against ('Settlement' Not Included), 78 Fordham Law Review 1203 (2009).
The Four Ways to Assure Mediator Quality (and why none of them work), 24 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 191 (2009).
Customized Litigation: The Case for Making Civil Procedure Negotiable, 75 George Washington Law Review 461 (2007).
Pleadings in the Age of Settlement, 80 Indiana Law Journal 727 (2005).
Schmediation and the Dimensions of Definition, 10 Harvard Negotiation Law Review 69 (2005).
Lights, Camera, Begin Final Exam: Testing What We Teach in Negotiation Courses, 54 Journal of Legal Education 91 (2004).
Suing Mediators, 83 Boston University Law Review 147 (2003).
Ten Ways to Get Sued: A Guide for Mediators, 8 Harvard Negotiation Law Review 81 (2003).
Will This Case Settle? An Exploration of Mediators' Predictions, 16 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 39 (2000).
Remodeling the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators, 2 Harvard Negotiation Law Review 87 (1997), co-authored with Jamie Henikoff.
Casting Light on the Black Box of Mediation: Should Mediators Make Their Conduct More Transparent?, 13 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 1 (1997).
Shorter Law Review Articles and Book Chapters
Review of Morrill & Musheno: Navigating Conflict: How Youth Handle Trouble in a High-Poverty School, 36 Negotiation Journal 73 (2020).
Commentary: The Overconfident Disputant in Mediation Ethics: Cases and Commentaries (Ellen Waldman, ed.) (Jossey-Bass 2011).
Iqbal and Settlement, 114 Penn St. L. Rev. Penn Statim 51 (2010).
Before the Big Bang: The Making of an ADR Pioneer, 22 Negotiation Journal 437 (2006).
Mediator Accountability: Ethical and Legal Standards of the Profession, American Journal of Trial Advocacy 47 (2005).
Mediation 'Transparency' Helps Parties See Where They're Going in Mediation: Approaches and Insights Russ Bleemer, ed. (CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution 2005).
Learning to Learn to Negotiate: An Action Science Perspective, (with Scott R. Peppet), in The Negotiator's Fieldbook, (C. Honeyman and A. Schneider, eds.) (2006).
Contingent Agreements: Agreeing to Disagree about the Future, 87 Marquette Law Review 690 (2004). Updated and reprinted in The Negotiator's Fieldbook, (C. Honeyman and A. Schneider, eds.) (2006).
The Law of Bargaining, 87 Marquette Law Review 838 (2004), co-authored with Russell Korobkin & Nancy Welsh. Updated and reprinted in The Negotiator's Fieldbook, (C. Honeyman and A. Schneider, eds.) (2006).
Action Science and Negotiation, 87 Marquette Law Review 648 (2004), co-authored with Scott Peppet.
Loyalty, Confidentiality and Attorney-Mediators: Professional Responsibility in Cross-Profession Practice, 1 Harvard Negotiation Law Review 203 (1996).
Books
Dispute Resolution: Examples & Explanations (5th ed. Aspen 2025), (4th ed. Aspen 2019), (3d ed. Aspen 2014), (2d ed. Aspen 2011), (Aspen 2008) co-authored with Andrea Kupfer Schneider and Sarah Cole.
Dispute Resolution: Beyond the Adversarial Model (4th ed. Aspen 2025), (3d ed. Aspen 2018), co-authored with Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Lela Love, Andrea Schneider, and Kristen Blankley.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION: BEYOND THE ADVERSARIAL MODEL 3D ED., (Aspen 2018), co-authored with Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Lela Love and Andrea Schneider.
Dispute Resolution: Examples & Explanations co-authored with Andrea Kupfer Schneider (Aspen 2008) (2d ed. Aspen 2011) (3d ed. Aspen 2014).
The Handbook of Dispute Resolution, edited with Robert C. Bordone (Jossey-Bass 2005).
Other Publications
Which is Better, Food or Water? The Rule of Law or ADR?, Dispute Resolution Magazine 8 (2010).
Create Value out of Conflict, 9 Negotiation 1 (Harvard Business School Publishing, June 2006).
The Wrong Model, Again: Why the Devil is Not in the Details of the New Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators, Dispute Resolution Magazine (Spring 2006).
Promises, Promises: Mediators and Their Contracts, in Alternatives: CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution (January 2004).
What Me Liable? A Checkup for Mediators, Dispute Resolution Magazine 25 (Summer 2003).
An Introduction to Transparent Mediation, in Alternatives: CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution (June 1998).
Frank Sander: Mentor to the Field of Dispute Resolution, Dispute Resolution Magazine 14 (Fall 2012), co-authored with David Hoffman.
Arthur Miller Scared the Hell Out of Me, 90 Oregon Law Review 945 (2012).
Appearances
Selected Public Presentations
Professor Moffitt has given more than fifty public and scholarly presentations. A partial list of the audiences includes: the ABA Section on Dispute Resolution, Quinnipiac – Yale ADR Speaker Series, New England Association for Conflict Resolution, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, Harvard Mediation Program, TechStars Chicago, Novancia Business School, Harvard Law School, National Symposium on Dispute Resolution in Special Education, Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, International Ombudsman Association, Marquette University Law School, University of Nevada Las Vegas Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution, Tennessee Supreme Court ADR Commission, American Association of Law Libraries, Law School Admissions Council, International Academy of Mediators, Law and Society Association Conference, American College of Civil Trial Mediators and International Academy of Mediators Annual Meeting, Wisconsin Association of Mediators, American Association of Law Schools Annual Meeting, Oregon State Bar Section on Dispute Resolution, Oregon Mediation Association Annual Meeting, Northern Kentucky University Labor-Management Conference, The Michigan Conference on Dispute Resolution, Boston Bar Association Section on Litigation, The CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution Annual Conference.
Honors and Awards
Outstanding Faculty Advisor. 2025. Awarded to one university faculty member each year by the University of Oregon All-Campus Advising Association, to recognize "extraordinary efforts to make students feel welcome and respected, to help them navigate the university, and to provide them with the support and advocacy necessary to succeed in the classroom and beyond."
Herman Award for Specialized Pedagogy. 2023. Awarded by the University of Oregon to recognize outstanding achievement and expertise in a particular area of teaching.