Research and Empirical Studies

Dr. Jennifer McDevitt is an adjunct professor for the Latin American, Caribbean, & Latino Studies and Political Science programs at New Jersey City University. Her Ph.D. is in Conflict Analysis and Resolution with a specialization in Cultural and Ethnic Conflict. She also holds an M.A. in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations, as well as, a B.A. in Anthropology with a certificate in Ethic Studies. She has focused her recent research on conflict in Latin America. Jennifer is a visiting scholar for the Institute for Dispute Resolution and is focusing her skills on the team’s project Engage Puerto Rico: A Case for Sustainable Mediation Culture, as well as, other academic articles.

She is an Assistant Professor at Eotvos Lorand University Budapest, Hungary, Faculty of Law. She has a PhD. in Law. She was responsible to coordinate the accreditation of the Criminology Master Programme at the Eotvos Lorand University, Faculty of Law. She completed a mediator training in 2010. She is interested in mediation applied in criminal cases, as well as in family law and commercial cases. She trained mediators at the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Since 2013 she has been the coach of the ELTE University Team at the International Chamber of Commerce, International Commercial Mediation Competition. In 2017 her Team went to the world's top 16 teams and finishing the competition at the 12th place. In 2019 they ranked as the 6th in the competition. And is 2020 her team hits the third place at the ICC Mediation Competition From the 1st of January 2020 she is the President of the Budapest Conciliation Board affiliated with the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She was appointed by the Minister for Innovation and Technology. She has been organized and talked numerous national and international conferences, workshops and round table discussions about the usefulness and the advantages of commercial mediation. She used to work as an external expert of the Ministry of Interior (previously the Hungarian Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement) where she was coordinating and monitoring general crime prevention projects in Hungary. She is an expert at the Hungarian Chapter of Transparency International.

In her opinion it is paramount important to make more awareness of the different ADR tools in Hungary. It would be interesting to let all the citizens know about mediation and conciliation as a cost-effective, time-saving, and business-friendly form of problem-solving. The parties involved in such a procedure gain much more than they would expect. These processes also have a positive effect on business life and domestic economic processes. She believes that Hungary can be a much richer, more successful and even economically efficient country by properly transposing international good practices of the different alternative dispute resolution skills.

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B.A. 1969 (Cum Laude) State University of New York, Buffalo; M.A. 1970 Boston University; J.D. 1976 (Magna Cum Laude), University of Puerto Rico; Diploma Fourth Course in International Law 1977 Gertulio Vargas Foundation and Inter-American Juridical Committee of the Organization of American States; Fulbright Senior Specialist 2001; Doctor of Law 2011 (Outstanding Cum Laude) Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Visiting Research Fellow Harris Manchester College Oxford University 20011, 2012.

Legal Advisor in the Office of Court Administration from 1977-78; Lawyer in Legal Services of Puerto Rico, Inc. from 1978-79 and Director of its Unit from 1979-81; O’Neill & Borges Law Firm from 1981-88; private practice from 1988 to 1994.

Associate Professor in this Faculty of Law from 1988-1994 in the Theory, Doctrine and Practice of Litigation, Consumer Law, Professional Responsibility and Alternate Methods: Mediation courses. Full-time professor at this Faculty of Law since January 1995 in the Theory, Doctrine and Practice of Litigation, Alternate Methods: Mediation, Legal Aid Clinic, Mediation Module, Professional Responsibility, Theory of Conflict. Dean of Studies from 1996 to 2002. Academic Coordinator of the Institute for Conflict Resolution at the Law School of the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, Inc.

He has cooperated with an initiative of the American Bar Association to develop mediation skills in Mexico and with a DPK project for the training of mediators in El Salvador. He has offered conferences and seminars on the topic of mediation for different private and governmental entities in Panama, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Twenty years later he has published on this subject; mediation in Puerto Rico, UAD Magazine Department of Labor Year 5 No. 9 December 2003 and Civil and commercial mediation: its impact on Western European countries, Inter-American No. 6 Year 2013. He is the representative of Puerto Rico at the World Forum of Mediation.

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