Abstract

In this article, clinical instructors at the Harvard Law School Dispute Systems Design (“DSD”) Clinic propose adapting an old analytical framework — The Seven Elements of Interest-Based Negotiation — for a new context, dispute systems design (“DSD”). A relatively young field, DSD is the “applied art and science of designing the means to prevent, manage, and resolve streams of disputes or conflict.” DSD can feel broad and opaque to newcomers and thus is in need of a foundational framework, especially for beginners. The Seven Elements of DSD — alternatives, interests, options, criteria, communication, relationship, and commitment — can serve a helpful guiding framework for practitioners, scholars, and students alike in assessing, evaluating, and making design recommendations for dispute systems. The authors explain each of the Seven Elements and their application as tools of DSD and offer context for each element based on lessons learned from DSD practice.

Keywords: DisputeSystemsDesign, InterestBasedNegotiation, ConflictResolution, SevenElements, DSDFramework