Law School Vision Statement

Even before going to law school I had an affinity and deep interest and appreciation for arbitration and the study of conflict resolution. I made it my first priority to learn all that I could regarding various types of negotiation skills, strategies, techniques, and behavior and have continued my interest in this topic to follow my love for negotiation studies and my dream to pursue a career as a professional negotiator in my future.

The first opportunity that I had to test my negotiation skills and knowledge actually presented itself in the form of a contract case that involved my family business. As it was, several disputes did arise from the contract in that situation, hence, arbitrators were appointed, and they had to use negotiation techniques to resolve the issues out of court with mutual agreements of all parties. Interestingly, I enjoyed being part of this process and was curious to see how arbitration worked in the professional world.

Since then, I have seen the potential gains for all parties in the settling of disputes out of court. For this reason, I decided to tailor my career towards contributing to the growth of alternative dispute resolution. Although this degree is more common in the United States, the practice of ADR is still in its infancy in my home country of Nigeria, and it is considered an uncommon choice for settling law cases.

I worked to the best of my ability in law school, and after graduation, I went back to business and a corporate job which was within my comfort zone. Because of my law degree, I was able to draft rules and regulations for the organization since I had the expertise to offer suggestions for a new corporate structure based on my contracts and business knowledge gained in law school.

I then realized that my law degree was not enough to manage this organization, as I realized, and my family realized that they were in a position to expand the business at an alarming rate. I realized I needed special skills to enable me to meet the challenges, so I decided to get an MBA. In my MBA classes at Schiller International University, I acquired a significant amount of management skills that I was able to apply and utilize in my family business as soon as I got home.

In my MBA human resources classes, alternative dispute resolution was mentioned as the most effective and productive way of dealing with conflicts in organizations between employer and its employees and between employees themselves in regards to a host of matters including codes compliance and discrimination. It is also a valuable tool for settling disputes between organizations and their customers or associates, especially when there are conflicts that lend themselves to a settlement out of court.

I had graduated from Schiller International University with an MBA, and I determined that this was the appropriate time to put the knowledge and skills acquired in business school to practice including and not limited to management, analytical, critical and creative thinking, negotiation and dispute resolution skills. I didn’t have to go far to apply my newly acquired skills since my family business offered me an opportunity to develop ADR plans to manage business relations, and I was enthusiastic to begin applying what I knew to manage ADR cases at our company.

This being a great accomplishment for me, I understood that I am ready to work on the developing of techniques and strategies in alternative dispute resolution, and this achievement formed the basis of my decision to apply for this MS in the NDR course in Creighton University. These studies will equip me with more specific NDR skills I need to succeed as a peace professional, to later establish a consulting firm in my country focusing or targeting on organizational and business transactions, government agencies, and global intellectual property rights.

The MS in Negotiation and ADR attractive to me for several reasons: the hands-on practice to learn through role-plays and simulations, meeting my group members to share different ideas and perspectives and learning and being mentored by expert faculty members in the field who are knowledgeable and successful in their careers. I am excited at the possibilities of this program and I believe that achieving an MS in Negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution will help me obtain all of my professional and personal goals.