James R. Holbrook
Clinical Professor of Law
Professor Holbrook received a B.A. in 1966 from Grinnell College where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Honorary Fellowship. In 1968 he received an M.A. from Indiana University, which he attended as a National Science Foundation Fellow. He fought in combat in Vietnam in 1969, for which service he was awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal for Valor. In 1974 he received a J.D. from the University of Utah where he was an articles editor of the Journal of Contemporary Law. After law school, he clerked for the chief judge of the federal district court for Utah and later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Salt Lake City.
Before joining the faculty at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law in 2002, he practiced law for twenty-eight years, primarily in the areas of complex civil and federal white-collar criminal litigation. Since 1987, he has mediated and arbitrated over 600 disputes dealing with a wide range of legal issues. He is a frequent speaker on advanced dispute resolution (ADR), has taught mediator and arbitrator skills courses around the country and abroad, and has numerous ADR publications. In 2002 he was awarded the Peter W. Billings Sr. Dispute Resolution Award by the Utah State Bar. In 2007 he taught negotiation and mediation skills courses at three law schools in southwest India. In 2008 he helped design and present a month-long rule-of-law training course for Afghan prosecutors in Salt Lake City. In 2009 he served as chief of party and principal investigator for the Global Justice Program: Iraq, which provided legal assistance to the government and judiciary of Iraq. In 2010, he received the International Academy of Mediators’ Sid Lezak Award for Excellence (presented annually to a mediator who best represents the furtherance of mediation).
Professor Holbrook teaches Lawyering Skills (interviewing, counseling and basic negotiation), Advanced Negotiation and Mediation, Arbitration, and a seminar on educating military veterans for continued national service.
Scholarship Highlights
Book Chapters
The ABCs of Writing a Reasoned Award, in AAA Handbook on Construction Arbitration (JurisNet, forthcoming 2010)
Unifying Principles of Mediation: A Unified Field Theory of Mediation–Using Performative, Distributive, Integrative and Transformative Negotiation Principles in Mediation, in AAA Handbook on Mediation (rev. ed.,Thomas E. Carbonneau & Jeanette A. Jaeggi, eds., JurisNet, forthcoming 2010)
Books
Advanced Negotiation and Mediation: Concepts, Skills and Exercises (West Publishing, forthcoming 2011)
Book Reviews
Thunder Over Zion: The Life of Chief Judge Willis W. Ritter, Res Gestae (University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law 2007)
Articles
Using Performative, Distributive, Integrative and Transformative Principles in Negotiation, Loy. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2010)
Reports from Baghdad and Reflections on War and Killing, Iraq Legal Stud. F. (forthcoming 2010)
Promoting Peace in Iraq by Supporting the Rule of Law, G8 Mag. (2010)
Beyond "Thinking Like a Lawyer" and the Traditional Legal Paradigm: Toward a Comprehensive View of Legal Education, co-authored with Jess Krannich & Julie J. McAdams, 86 Denv. U. L. Rev. 383 (2009)
Negotiating, Mediating, and Arbitrating Physician-Patient Conflicts, Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology 719 (Dec. 2008)
Filling the Justice Capacity Gap, co-authored with Hiram E. Chodosh, G8 Mag. (2008)
An ADR Journey to India, Res Gestae, (University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law 2007)
Can’t We All Just Get Along? – Arbitration Instead of Court, Community Mag. 68 (Jul./Aug. 2007)
ADR Education in Law Schools, co-authored wiith Hiram Chodosh, The American Center, Mumbai, India (2007)
War Sketches; An Interview; A Letter to the Editor; and Reflections on War and Killing, 31 Legal Stud. F. 515 (2007)
The Effects of ADR on Access to Justice in Utah, 2006 Utah L. Rev. 1017
Bruce S. Jenkins: A Judge’s Life, Res Gestae (University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law 2006)
Course Materials
Beyond Advocacy: Communications and Problem-Solving in Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiation, co-authored with Jess Krannich (University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law 2007)
Selected Talks and Presentations
Effective Performative Negotiation, Law Review Symposium, Getting to Yes: New Perspectives in Negotiation and Persuasion, Loyola University, New Orleans, LA, Mar. 2010
International Commercial Arbitration, International Law Course (Political Science), University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, Feb. 2010
Introduction to Negotiating Deals and Disputes, IMS AWWA Utility Leadership Forum on Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City, UT, Jan. 2010
Introduction to Negotiation, Genetic Counseling Seminar III, Health Sciences Education Building, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, Nov. & Dec. 2009
Drafting Arbitration Awards, Utah State Bar Dispute Resolution Section, Utah Law and Justice Center, Salt Lake City, UT, Oct. 2009
My Journey to the Heart of Mediation, Utah State Bar Dispute Resolution Section, Utah Law and Justice Center, Salt Lake City, UT, Oct. 2009
Vietnam and Iraq, Tenth Annual Hinckley Institute/Huntsman Seminar on Constitutional Government for Teachers, Utah State Capitol Board Room, Salt Lake City, UT, Aug. 2009
Conflict Resolution and Negotiation Skills for a Better Workplace, The Employers Council, Salt Lake City, UT, Feb. & Apr. 2009
Introduction to Arbitration, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT, Nov. 2008
Advanced Mediator Training, United States District Court for the District of Idaho, Boise, ID, Oct. 2008
Handling Conflict Stories in Performative Mediation, "Libertarian versus Communitarian Mediation", "Deconstructing Mediator Skills in a High-Conflict Mediation", and "Using Four Negotiation Strategies in Mediation", Idaho Mediation Association Annual Conference, Boise, ID, Sept. 2008
The Role of Mediation in Justice Reform, Utah State Bar Dispute Resolution Section and University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, Salt Lake City, UT, Apr. 2008
Transforming Conflict Narratives into Dialogue in Performative Negotiation, The City Law School’s Applied Storytelling Conference, London, England, July 2007
Various ADR workshops in Mumbai, Bhopal, and Goa, India, Apr. 2007
Mediator Training: Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, UT, Apr. 2007
Conflict Resolution through Storytelling, Utah State Bar Dispute Resolution Section, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, Salt Lake City, UT, Apr. 2007
Conflict Mediation: A Mediator Looks at War and Killing, 6th Annual William Stafford Symposium, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, Mar. 2007
Hearing the Water, Seeing the Fish: Negotiating "Conflicts from Hell," Zions Private Banking, Salt Lake City, UT, Dec. 2006
Ethics in Mediation, Utah State Bar Corporate Counsel Seminar, Salt Lake City, UT, Nov. 2006
Effective Advocacy in Mediation: Advice Mediators Have for Attorneys, Utah State Bar ADR Academy, Salt Lake City, UT, Oct. 2006
Professional Service
Mediator and Arbitrator, United States District Court for the District of Utah, ADR Panel (1993 to present)
Committee on Conduct of Attorneys, United States District Court for the District of Utah (Chair, 2007 to present; Committee member, 1997-2008)
Founding Member, Board of Directors, National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah (2010)
Conflicts of Interest Advisory Committee, University of Utah (2007-2010)
Utah Director, Historical Society of the Tenth Judicial Circuit (2006-2009)
Honors & Awards
International Academy of Mediators’ Sid Lezak Award for Excellence (presented annually to a non-member of the IAM who best represents the furtherance of mediation) (2010)
Primary Mediator Trainer Qualification, Administrative Office of the Utah Courts, Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (2003)
Peter W. Billings, Sr., Award for Outstanding Dispute Resolution Service, Utah State Bar ADR Section (2002)
Professional Affiliations
Member, Utah State Bar (1974 to present)
Member, American Bar Association (1976 to present)
Member, Dispute Resolution Section, Utah State Bar (1992 to present)
Member, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, Utah Judicial Council (1993 to present)
Member, American Arbitration Association, National Panels of Mediators and Arbitrators (1994 to present)
Member, Board of Fellows, American Bar Foundation (2002 to present)
Member, National Commercial Arbitrator Training Faculty, American Arbitration Association, Phoenix, Arizona (1998-2002)
Member, Board of Trustees, Utah Council on Conflict Resolution (1999-2002)
Member, Arbitrator II Curriculum Development Committee, American Arbitration Association, Phoenix, Arizona (2000)