Dispute Resolution in the Digital Age is an elective course in Osgoode’s Professional LLM in Dispute Resolution. The course explores how technology is transforming the way conflicts arise, develop, and are resolved in digital environments. Students examine the development of online dispute resolution systems and the tools and processes used to manage disputes in digital settings, from teleconferences and video hearings to text-based negotiation and virtual adjudication.
As more of our professional and personal interactions move online, the way disputes arise and unfold is changing as well. Digital platforms, artificial intelligence, and new forms of communication are reshaping how conflict develops in both legal and non-legal environments. The course invites students to think critically about these shifts while also developing practical skills for managing disputes in digital spaces.
The course is taught by Deborah Pressman, counsel in the Office of the Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, where she leads initiatives in judicial education, digital resources, and professional development for the judiciary. In her previous role with the Ontario Court of Justice, she worked closely with judicial leadership to develop education and resources that helped prepare the judiciary for modernization, including the rapid shift to virtual proceedings and digital court processes.
Pressman’s perspective on digital dispute resolution is shaped not only by her work with the courts, but also by years of hands-on experience resolving disputes. Earlier in her career, she served as a mediator and arbitrator, resolving high-conflict disputes and rendering decisions in complex statutory matters. Long before virtual hearings became commonplace, she was already experimenting with technology in dispute resolution processes, conducting mediations and settlement discussions by phone in the early 2000s and incorporating digital tools into dispute resolution and educational settings.
For Pressman, the relevance of digital dispute resolution extends far beyond the pandemic-driven move to virtual proceedings. “Dispute resolution is no longer confined to courtrooms or boardrooms,” she says. “As our lives move into digital spaces, the way conflicts arise and are resolved is changing with them.”
Digital tools also create opportunities to improve access to justice by making dispute resolution processes more accessible across geographic, financial, and time barriers. Technology can help institutions design processes that better match the needs of particular disputes, an idea often described as “fitting the forum to the fuss.” At the same time, these tools blur traditional lines between legal information, assistance, and advice, raising important questions about how dispute resolution processes should evolve.
Because conflict arises across virtually every professional context, the course attracts students from a wide range of backgrounds. Participants often include lawyers, human resources professionals, administrators, and technology specialists. As Pressman explains, “Wherever people interact, conflict follows.” Bringing together students from different professional backgrounds allows the class to explore how conflict unfolds across many contexts and professional environments.
The course itself is highly interactive and skills-focused. “Students don’t just learn about online dispute resolution,” Pressman explains. “They try it.” Through simulations and collaborative exercises, students experiment with resolving conflict using digital tools. These exercises allow students to reflect on how communication changes in digital environments and how dispute resolution strategies must adapt accordingly.
Students also examine how emerging technologies are beginning to reshape dispute resolution more broadly. Artificial intelligence tools, algorithmic decision-making systems, and digitally manipulated evidence are raising new ethical and procedural challenges across dispute resolution contexts. The course encourages students to think critically about these developments and consider how professionals can responsibly shape the future of dispute resolution in increasingly digital environments.
By the end of the course, students develop both a conceptual understanding of online dispute resolution and the practical skills needed to lead conflict resolution processes in digital settings. As more of our professional and personal lives take place through digital interactions, the ability to manage conflict effectively in digital environments is becoming an essential professional skill.
Wondering if the Professional LLM in Dispute Resolution is right for you? Get information on course requirements, application dates, tuition and more!