Faculty
Marjorie Corman Aaron

Contact Information

Education

  • BA, Princeton University
  • JD, Harvard Law School

Links

Areas Of Interest

  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Decision Analysis
  • Mediation
  • Negotiation

Marjorie Corman Aaron
Professor of Clinical Law and Director, Center for Practice

Marjorie Corman Aaron is Professor of Clinical Law and Director, Center for Practice at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, teaching courses in negotiations, client counseling, mediation, and decision analysis.

Ms. Aaron is an active mediator, arbitrator, and trainer in negotiation and dispute resolution in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a mediator panelist, sustaining academic member of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, and serves on CPR's ADR Training Faculty.

Ms. Aaron is also an arbitrator for national panel of the American Arbitration Association, the CPR Institute of Dispute Resolution, and a regional mediator panelist for JAMS-ADR. She previously served on the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, the Ethics Commission of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, and the Publications Committee of the ABA Section on Dispute Resolution.

Until July, 1998, Ms. Aaron was the Executive Director of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School ("PON"), where she was also a lecturer teaching negotiation. Prior to joining PON, Ms. Aaron was a Vice President at Endispute (now known as JAMS-ADR) and a panel mediator for the Middlesex Multi-Door Courthouse. Ms. Aaron has mediated disputes involving general commercial contracts, employment, age and gender discrimination, business torts, products liability, personal injury, complex construction and design claims, corporate partnership, environmental claims and allocation issues, real estate and business valuation, real estate trusts, and medical, legal and other professional malpractice.

Ms. Aaron has designed and taught numerous workshops on mediation, negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, and litigation decision analysis for law firms, corporations and universities. She is the author of numerous articles, book chapters, cases, and guides in the field of negotiation, mediation and other forms of dispute resolution.

Publications

Presentations

  • Psychological Hardwiring: Tips for the Sophisticated Negotiator, Harvard Law School Association of Cincinnati (June 1999)
  • Mediation—The Chosen Process: Some Process Choices, program for the ADR Committee of the Ohio State Bar Association, Annual Conference (May 1999)
  • Ethical Issues in Mediation, Panel Presentation, Harvard Law School Alumni Day Program (Nov. 1998)
  • Mediation Ethics, Mediation Advocacy, and Evaluation, Ohio State University College of Law, for Ohio Dispute Resolution Institute Program (June 1998)
  • What's in a Frame? Frames, Stories, Visions, Anchors and other Elements of Meaning, Center for Public Resources (CPR) Institute for Dispute Resolution (June 1998)
  • Grievance Mediation, 16th Annual Conference Labor Management Conference, sponsored by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Northern Kentucky University, and the Kentucky Labor Cabinet (May 1998)
  • Mediation Workshop, 4 day program offered by JAMS-Endispute, with Professor Dwight Golann (Sept. 1998, Feb. 1998, June 1996)
  • Advanced Mediation Workshop, week long workshop offered by the Program of Instruction for Lawyers, Harvard Univ. Law School, co-instructor with Professor Robert Mnookin (HLS) and Gary Friedman, Esq. (June 1997)
  • Evaluation in Mediation, lecture and demonstration with Dwight Golann, Center for Public Resources (CPR) Institute for Dispute Resolution (Jan. 1996)
  • Decision Analysis for Mediators, lecture and teaching session at the Spring Meeting of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution (June 1996)
  • Negotiation Research for Mediation Practice, plenary lecture, Virginia Mediation Network (Oct. 1996)
  • Manipulation, Evaluation, and Other Practical Strategies for Mediators Here on Earth, New England Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (Oct. 1995)
  • Gender Issues in Negotiation, lecture and workshop, New Hampshire Women's Bar Association (Oct. 1994)

Courses

  • Advanced Decision Analysis
  • Client Counseling
  • Mediation Advocacy Workshop
  • Negotiations

Summer 2009

Marjorie taught Decision Analysis at North Carolina Central University School of Law. She also attended American Arbitration Association Arbitrator training and was accepted on their national arbitration panel.

June 2009

Marjorie presented three workshops for the New Zealand Government’s Leadership Development Center: Advanced Negotiation, Negotiation in a Nutshell, and Great on Your Feet. She gave a lecture on Decision Analysis in Mediation to Wellington, NZ’s LEADR branch (LEADR is the NZ and Australia lawyers’ ADR organization). She designed and delivered a Mediators’ Master Class for the mediators of NZ’s Building and Housing Department, headquartered in Auckland.

May 2009

Marjorie participated in a panel discussion on When the Music Stops: How to Overcome "Insulting" First Offers, Bad Faith Refusals to Negotiate and Other Impasses in Bargaining at the ABA Section on Dispute Resolution Conference. The panel discussed clips in a newly issued mediation DVD in which Marjorie was one of two featured mediators. Marjorie also presented teaching advice for her three phase simulation exercise, Bagger-Delishco, in the “Shoptalk” session of the Legal Educators’ Coloquium at the ABA Conference.

March 2009

Marjorie conducted a workshop at the College on Making Mediators: An Intensive Practice Workshop for Attorneys and Other Professionals Who Mediate. Several of Marjorie’s articles were cited:

  • Decision Analysis as a Method of Evaluating the Trial Alternative, in Mediating Legal Disputes 307 (Dwight Golann, ed., 1997) (with David P. Hoffer), and The Value of Decision Analysis in Mediation Practice, 11 Nogot. J. 123 (1995), in Robert L. Haig, Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts (West, 2nd ed., New York Practice Series, 2009 Supp.).
  • Using Decision Trees as Tools for Settlement, 14 Alternatives to High Cost Litig. 71 (1996) (with David P. Hoffer, in Robert L. Haig, Successful Partnering between Inside and Outside Counsel (Thomson West, 2009 Supp.).

February 2009

Marjorie served as a judge in the “Outstanding Short Articles and Blogs” category for the Annual Awards program of the CPR, International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution. The award was presented at CPR’s Annual Winter Meeting on Jan. 15th. She also taught the Client Counseling Workshop at the College.

January 2009

Marjorie’s Center for Practice presented three CLE workshops:

December 2008

Marjorie offered a Practice View on Employment Litigation. She appears as one of two mediators in a new DVD, Skills of a Mediator, to be included with a forthcoming book on mediation practice by Dwight Golann to be published by the ABA.

October 2008

Marjorie's articles, Decision Analysis as a Method of Evaluating the Trial Alternative, in Mediating Legal Disputes 307 (Dwight Golann, ed., 1997) (with David P. Hoffer), and The Value of Decision Analysis in Mediation Practice, 11 Negot. J. 123 (1995), were cited in Robert L. Haig, Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts (West, 2nd ed., New York Practice Series, 2008 Supp.).

Summer 2008

Marjorie taught:

Marjorie appeared on NPR's Marketplace Report in a segment on Selling Suits is Rewarding.

June 2008

Marjorie presented three negotiation-related workshops, and gave a lecture on New Zealand Women Do (or Should) Negotiate, to staff from various New Zealand government ministry and agencies, sponsored by the New Zealand Leadership Development Center. Closer to home, she presented a half-day Negotiation training program for women attorneys at Hahn Loeser & Parks in Columbus, OH.

Marjorie and Betsy Malloy organized the UC Law Running Club and participated in the Flying Pig Marathon.

May 2008

Marjorie presented a session on mediation practices entitled Breaking the Rules: The Truth About Consequences at the ABA Section on Dispute Resolution's Tenth Annual Spring Conference in Seattle (with Dwight Golann). Her articles, Decision Analysis as a Method of Evaluating the Trial Alternative, in Mediating Legal Disputes 307 (Dwight Golann, ed., 1997) (with David P. Hoffer); Do's and Don'ts for Mediation Practice, Disp. Resol. Mag. (Winter 2005); and The Value of Decision Analysis in Mediation Practice, 11 Negot. J. 123 (1995), were cited in Donald R. Philbin, Jr., The One Minute Manager Prepares for Mediation: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Negotiation Preparation, 13 Harv. Negot. L. Rev. 249 (2008).

April 2008

Marjorie was a judge for the 2007 International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution Awards. The awards were presented at the organization's annual meeting in New York in January.

March 2008

Marjorie conducted the first half of Making Mediators: A Intensive Practice Workshop for Attorneys and Other Professionals Who Mediate through her Center for Practice. The workshop is designed for experienced professionals, familiar with mediation as advocates, but less experienced in the neutral's role. Participants gain real mediator experience in complex mediations and challenging mediation problems.

February 2008

Marjorie served as a judge for CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution annual award for professional articles. Her article, Using Decision Trees as Tools for Settlement, 14 Alternatives to High Cost Litig. 71 (1996) (with David P. Hoffer), was cited in Robert L. Haig, Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel (Thomson West, 2008 Supp.).

January 2008

Marjorie published On Negotiation, in Negotiating Outcomes, part of Harvard Business School Publishing's Pocket Mentor Series.

Marjorie designed and facilitated three new CLE programs in conjunction with her Center for Practice in Negotiation and Problem Solving, drawing insight from acting, improvisation, communication, rhetoric, and debate for legal practice:
  • Great on Your Feet and In the Moment (with Daniel J. Donnellon (Keating, Muething & Klekamp)) targeted the challenge of quick and effective responses.
  • Lawyers Present . . . So Present Well (with Shelley Bamberger Bailey (i-Cue Communications)) aimed at polishing formal presentations.
  • Drama Does It for Lawyers (with John Bromel (Playhouse in the Park) & Melinda Seibert (Ovation Theater) focused on voice, tone, timing, stance, and gesture with clients, counsel, colleagues, and the court.

December 2007

Marjorie coached Keith Hagan and Laura Railing, who won the ABA Negotiation Regional Competition in Valparaiso Indiana. She was quoted in Dwight Golann, The Changing Role of Evaluation in Commercial ADR, 14 Disp. Resol. Mag. 16 (2007).

November 2007

Marjorie participated in the Alumni Teach-In Day, as Eric Robbins (Class of 2001), Ulmer & Berne (Cincinnati, OH) and Clayton Kuhnell (Class of 2001), Dinsmore & Shohl (Cincinnati, OH), taught her Negotiations Class.

October 2007

Marjorie convened UC's Negotiation Competition, with many Cincinnati lawyers judging ten student teams, to select the two teams that will represent UC at the ABA Regional Representation in Mediation Competition in November.

Summer 2007

Marjorie was appointed Professor of Clinical Law. She taught:
  • Two three-day negotiation workshops to representatives of various New Zealand government ministries under the auspices of the Leadership Development Centre in Wellington, New Zealand.
  • A course on Decision Analysis at North Carolina Central State University.

June 2007

Several of Marjorie's publications were cited:
  • ADR Toolbox: The Highwire Art of Evaluation, 14 Alternatives to High Cost Litig. 62 (1996), in Mercédeh Azeredo da Silveira, Impartiality v. Substantive Neutrality: Is the Mediator Authorized to Provide Legal Advice? 62-APR Disp. Resol. J. 26 (2007).
  • The Value of Decision Analysis in Mediation Practice, 11 Negot. J. 123 (1995), and Decision Analysis as a Method of Evaluating the Trial Alternative, in Mediating Legal Disputes 307 (Dwight Golann, ed., 1997) (with David P. Hoffer), in Douglas H. Yarn & Gregory Todd Jones, Alternative Dispute Resolution: Practice and Procedure in Georgia (Harrison, 3rd ed. 2007 Supp.).

May 2007

Marjorie presented Unreasonable Clients: When Lawyers Ask for Help - And When They Don't - What Can a Mediator Do? at the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution's Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

April 2007

Marjorie was appointed to serve on Governor Strickland's Ohio Judicial Appointments Regional Panel.

Marjorie completed teaching her Making Mediators Workshop, a CLE seminar for lawyers who want to learn to mediate. She coached and accompanied two student teams to the ABA Regional Representation in Mediation Competition at Michigan State.

Marjorie spoke on Academy to Action for Effective Negotiation Practice to the West Chester Chamber Alliance.

March 2007

Marjorie co-taught the first segment of her Making Mediators CLE workshop, in which lawyers serve as mediators for students enrolled in the law school's Mediation Advocacy class.

With Adjunct Professor Jim Lawrence, Marjorie coached UC's regional winners in the ABA's negotiation competition in preparation for the National Competition. She also coached and traveled with two UC teams for the Regionals of the ABA's Client Counseling Competition. Marjorie conducted the intra-school Representation in Mediation Competition, selecting two teams to represent UC at the Regionals in March.

Marjorie's book chapter, Evaluation in Mediation, Mediating Legal Disputes (Dwight Golann, ed., 1997), was cited in John Lande, How Much Justice Can We Afford?: Defining the Courts' Roles and Deciding the Appropriate Number of Trials, Settlement Signals, and Other Elements Needed to Administer Justice, 2006 J. Disp. Resol. 213.

February 2007

Marjorie Corman Aaron Professor of Practice and Director, Center for Negotiation & Problem Solving Marjorie taught a three-day workshop to the 2L class on Interviewing Counseling and Decision-Making with Professor Richard Reuben (Missouri-Columbia). She served as a judge for the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution awards for professional articles published in 2006 in dispute resolution. Marjorie designed and taught a two day workshop in Advanced Mediation and Mediation Advocacy for the CPR Institute with Amy Glass (Michigan Mediation Services).

Marjorie's article, Using Decision Trees as Tools for Settlement, 14 Alternatives to High Cost Litig. 71 (1996) (with David P. Hoffer), was cited in Robert L. Haig, Successful Partnering between Inside and Outside Counsel (West Group, 2007 Supp.).

January 2007

Marjorie offered three CLE courses through her Center for Practice in Negotiation and Problem Solving:
  • Decision Analysis for Lawyers and Clients
  • Getting to the Goal in Tough Negotiations (with Dwight Golann (Suffolk))
  • Mediation Advocacy: How to Borrow a Mediator's Powers (with Prof. Golann)

Marjorie served as a judge for the professional articles award competition of the CPR Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.

Marjorie's article, The Value of Decision Analysis in Mediation Practice, 11 Negot. J. 123 (1995), was cited in Douglas H. Yarn & Gregory Todd Jones, Alternative Dispute Resolution: Practice and Procedure in Georgia (Harrison, 3rd ed., 2006).

Please see Faculty News Archives for earlier issues.

Awards

  • American College of Civil Trial Mediators, 1998 Education/Training Achievement Award
  • Center for Public Resources (CPR) Institute for Dispute Resolution, 1995 Second Prize for Excellence, Articles, "The Value of Decision Analysis in Mediation Practice," Negotiation Journal 11.2: 123-134 (1995)