Center for Aviation Studies Partners with Moritz College of Law Program on Dispute Resolution Research for the Aviation Industry

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The Center for Aviation Studies has partnered with The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law Program on Dispute Resolution on projects associated with finding better ways to resolve commercial disputes between entities operating in the aviation industry. 

This partnership was motivated by an observed need by Gary Doernhoefer, former General Counsel at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), VP and General Counsel at Orbitz, Inc., Senior Counsel at American Airlines, and adjunct faculty member at The Ohio State University Department of Aviation.  Mr. Doernhoefer brought to Ohio State the awareness that dispute resolution, whether it be mediation, arbitration, or litigation, is fraught with inefficiencies and expense in the aviation industry.  Mr. Doernhoefer took advantage of the combined resources of the Center and the expertise of the Moritz College of Law Program on Dispute Resolution challenging them  to perform detailed research and make recommendations on how the aviation industry could adopt improved, fair and efficient dispute resolution practices for its intra-industry commercial disputes. 

In 2014, students in the Moritz College of Law’s Dispute System Design Workshop, taught by Emeritus Professor Nancy Rogers, interviewed attorneys throughout the aviation industry about their commercial disputes, identifying ways in which the current dispute resolution approaches fit the interests of aviation partners, determining where they could be improved and suggesting alternatives to the current processes.  A copy of the student design project report as well as a briefing booklet designed for a to-be-formed international council on alternative dispute resolution may be downloaded below.

In 2015, the Workshop students augmented the research, particularly getting reactions on alternatives to current approaches and focusing on airports and other segments of the industry.  That report is coming soon. 

For more information on this partnership, please contact Dr. Seth Young (young.1460@osu.edu), Prof. Nancy Rogers (rogers.23@osu.edu), or Gary Doernhoefer (garyd@skylarc.net).  

 

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