2026 CSDR Symposium

Artificial Intelligence, Real Attorneys, and the Art of Lawyering

In a constant wave of new AI technologies, how can we be clear-eyed about the intersection of the tools of artificial intelligence with our human work as lawyers? On Friday, April 24, the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution, in conjunction with the Mizzou Law Journal of Dispute Resolution, is hosting a symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Real Attorneys, and the Art of Lawyering. Panelists will explore opportunities afforded by AI and highlight red flags on the horizon. Please join us for a substantive, reflective conversation that will help us think more deeply and broadly about what it means, as human attorneys, to engage in effective legal teaching, scholarship, and practice in the rapidly changing landscape of AI.

Symposium Schedule

Friday, April 24All events held in the Hulston Hall Courtroom
8:00-8:30 a.m.           Check in & continental breakfast
8:45-9:00 a.m.Welcome
Dean Paul J. Litton & CSDR Director Carli N. Conklin
9:00-10:00 a.m.         Keynote Lecture
Introduction by John Lande, Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri School of Law

Colin Rule, President & CEO, ODR
Artificial Intelligence, Real Attorneys, and the Art of Dispute Resolution
10:00-10:15 a.m.Coffee Break
10:15-11:15 a.m.        Panel I:  AI & Real Attorneys in Legal Education
Panel introduction, Rachel Wechsler, Associate Professor of Law and Asst. Director, Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution, University of Missouri School of Law

Prof. Noam Ebner, Fellow, National Center for Technology & Dispute Resolution
The Human Change – Negotiation Change Framework: Negotiation Changes on the Horizon Stemming from Human Entanglement with AI

Prof. Lauren A. Newell, Campbell University School of Law
Mirror, Mirror on my Screen, Can You Feel Like a Human Being?
A discussion of what empathy is, and what it isn’t, and why it matters in AI
11:15-11:30 a.m. Coffee Break
11:30-12:45 p.m.         Panel II: Artificial Intelligence & Real Attorneys in Legal Research,
Legal Writing, and Legal Scholarship
Panel introduction by Carli Conklin, Associate Professor of Law and Director, Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution, University of Missouri School of Law

Prof. Jayne Woods, University of Missouri School of Law
Reports of Legal Writing’s Death are Greatly Exaggerated:
Why Generative AI Will Not Kill the Craft

Prof. Jenna Homeyer, Partner, Brad Bradshaw, Springfield, Mo.
Thinking Critically about AI: How to Use (or Misuse) AI to Draft Legal Writing and to Check Our Own Implicit Bias in Legal Representation

Prof. Renee Henson, University of Missouri School of Law
AI and the Art of Legal Scholarship
12:45-1:30 p.m.    Lunch
1:30-2:45 p.m.Panel III:  Artificial Intelligence & Real Attorneys in Legal Practice
Panel introduction by Dennis Crouch, Professor of Law, University of Missouri School of Law

Prof. John Lande, Emeritus, University of Missouri School of Law
Designing Centaur Systems: AI That Enhances Human Judgment

Prof. Bernard Chao, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
“Real Hypothetical Negotiations.” An empirical discussion of why courts should use simulated negotiations to replace damages witnesses for determining a reasonable royalty in patent law disputes

Prof. Rishi Batra, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
The Limits of Disclosure: Artificial Intelligence, Arbitration, and the Illusion of Informed Consent
2:45-3:00 p.m.Closing Remarks

QUESTIONS? Contact Erik Spence:erik.spence@missouri.edu