Jean Sternlight

Professor Emeritus, William S. Boyd School of Law
Founding Director, Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution
Expertise: Arbitration, Negotiation, Mediation, Litigation, Psychology and lawyering, Legal education, Impact of emerging technology on the legal system

Biography

Jean Sternlight is a professor emerita of the UNLV Boyd School of Law who served as the founding director of the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution. A member of the Boyd faculty since 2003, Sternlight is internationally recognized for her scholarship and law reform activities in the field of dispute resolution, specifically both litigation and alternatives to litigation including arbitration, mediation and negotiation.   

In particular, Sternlight is frequently cited by courts and the press as an expert with respect to "mandatory" arbitration, the practice whereby companies require employees and consumers to resolve disputes through private arbitration rather than in public courts. She has criticized this practice on both legal and policy grounds in numerous books and articles and in Congressional testimony. She argues that companies are using mandatory arbitration to deprive consumers and employees of access to attorneys and access to court, for example by preventing them from joining together in class actions.

Sternlight also focuses on improving legal education. She argues that it is important to blend both theory and practice. Her most recent book,  (American Bar Association, 2012), argues that lawyers who know about psychology can be more effective in interviewing, counseling, negotiation, writing, and courtroom performance. 

Jean Sternlight In The News

K.L.A.S. T.V. 8 News Now
According to records 8 News Now obtained, the Clark County School District made more than a hundred payments since 2015 in legal settlements.
KATV: ABC 7
The rapid evolution and invention of new technology has changed how the world functions and is connected.
The National Desk
The rapid evolution and invention of new technology has changed how the world functions and is connected.
Bloomberg
The number of employment disputes resolved in arbitration climbed by roughly 66% between 2018 and 2020, according to new data, despite pressure from the #MeToo movement and efforts by Fortune 500 companies and lawmakers to curb agreements that keep claims out of court.

Articles Featuring Jean Sternlight

Graduation surprise
Campus News | August 1, 2023

News stories from the summer featuring UNLV students and faculty.

2022 U.N.L.V. Spring Commencement Ceremony for the Graduate College.  May 13, 2022 (Josh Hawkins/UNLV)
Campus News | June 2, 2022

A collection of news stories highlighting the experts and student changemakers at UNLV.

person with school face paint
Campus News | November 4, 2021

A collection of news stories featuring stargazing and change at UNLV.

Jean Sternlight
Research | February 16, 2021

New article co-authored by law professor Jean Sternlight will explore the role psychology plays in law’s increasingly high-tech world.