The Branstetter Litigation & Dispute Resolution Program
About Us
Vanderbilt Law's Branstetter Litigation & Dispute Resolution Program prepares students for the real world of litigation practice by acquainting them with a wide variety of ways that disputes are resolved, including arbitration, court-supervised settlement, mediation, negotiation, and trial. The program offers students an advanced legal curriculum designed to enable them to step immediately into sophisticated litigation practice.
The program’s name underscores a simple fact: the vast majority of litigation in the U.S. today results in settlements rather than trials. Litigation practice today primarily involves the management and resolution of disputes. Students who complete Vanderbilt’s program are prepared to enter legal practice with both a practical and conceptual understanding of the different methods of dispute resolution.
Program Origins
The Branstetter Litigation & Dispute Resolution Program grew out of a nationwide consumer class action settlement. The supervising court directed a $3 million cy pres award to the Law School to endow a program in litigation and dispute resolution to help train the nation's next generation of dispute resolvers.
The program is named in honor of Cecil D. Branstetter ('49), a distinguished Law School alumnus, whose firm, Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, won the suit.