Our Team

HNMCP Faculty and Staff                                                                                          

Professor Robert Bordone Thaddeus R. Beal Assistant Clinical Professor of Law Director, HNMCP

Most students at Harvard Law School know Professor Bob Bordone as the lead instructor for Harvard Law School’s Spring Negotiation Workshop. He is the most recent recipient of the 2007 Albert Sacks-Paul Freund Teaching Award, presented annually by the student body to one member of the Law School faculty for their teaching excellence, mentorship of students, and general contributions to the life of the Law School.  Bob also teaches several other research courses on dispute resolution, leadership, and dispute systems design, and he supervises the three student organizations at Harvard Law School devoted to the application of ADR and negotiation to the world around them (the Harvard Mediation Program, the Harvard Negotiators, and the Harvard Negotiation Law Review).  Most recently, Bob spearheaded the creation of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program, which he now directs.

In his free time, Bob often works as a professional consultant, facilitator and scholar in the field of negotiations and dispute management.  Bob has worked with a range of corporate clients including Premera Blue Cross, Health Net, Gap, Inc., Fidelity Investments, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Exelon, and Microsoft.  In addition, he has worked on projects with nonprofit, educational, governmental and cultural institutions such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Massachusetts General Hospital, Princeton Regional Schools, Dartmouth College, Fort Wayne, Indiana Schools, the U.S. Department of Justice, the United Way, the International Criminal Court at The Hague, DePaul University, and the Vienna School of Economics and Business Administration.  Furthermore, he has taught executive negotiation seminars to a large number of legal professionals, ranging from public interest attorneys working for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to private corporate attorneys working at major law firms in both the United States and internationally. 

His research interests include the design and implementation of dispute resolution systems, the development of a problem-solving curriculum in law schools, and ADR ethics.  Bob is co-editor of The Handbook of Dispute Resolution, (Jossey-Bass, 2005), recipient of the 2005 Book Award from the National Institute for Advanced Conflict Resolution.  Bob has also authored a number of articles including Negotiation Teaching in Law Schools, a working paper published in Negotiation Pedagogy: A Research Survey of Four Disciplines, 11 (2000); Teaching Interpersonal Skills for Negotiation and for Life in the Negotiation Journal (October 2000) and Electronic Online Dispute Resolution: A Systems Approach—Potential, Problems, and a Proposal, 3 Harv. Neg. L. Rev. 175 (1998).  He has written numerous case simulations used in Harvard negotiation courses and other American law schools.  A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Mr. Bordone clerked for the Honorable George A. O’Toole, Jr. and worked for Crowell & Moring, LLP in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Justice, the Boston Consulting Group, and CBS News before returning to Harvard.

As the Director of HNMCP, Bob is responsible for the overall functioning of the clinic, and he also manages some of the clinical projects. 

Stephan Sonnenberg Lecturer on Law 2007 - 2009 Clinical Fellow, Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP)

Before joining the HNMCP staff during the summer of 2007, Stephan worked with the International Rescue Committee in Kitgum District, northern Uganda, to promote community-owned strategies of preventing and addressing human rights abuses in communities traumatized by two decades of war.  Before that, Stephan received graduate degrees from Harvard Law School, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris, where he focused his studies on the intersections between human rights, conflict resolution, and humanitarian and development assistance to countries in transition.  As a student activist, he coordinated several advocacy projects focusing on human rights issues in the United States, the former Soviet Union, Western Europe, and Africa.

As the clinical fellow, Stephan is primarily responsible for working with potential clients to prepare projects, and to subsequently supervise those projects not managed by Professor Bordone.

Matthew Smith Lecturer on Law 2008 - 2010 Clinical Fellow, Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP)

Matt joined the HNMCP staff during the summer of 2008.  A graduate of Harvard Law School, Matt was formerly an associate in the Los Angeles office of the law firm McDermott Will & Emery LLP.  His practice focused on white-collar defense, including the representation of clients in stock option backdating cases (involving both SEC and USAO investigations).  Matt was also highly involved in McDermott's Kids First program, providing pro bono representation to children in asylum, adoption, guardianship, and special education hearings.  While a law student Matt was a Chayes Fellow and worked in Croatia with a mobile legal team for the Center for Peace, Non-Violence and Human Rights, providing services to refugee camps and individuals displaced by war.

As the clinical fellow, Matt is responsible for working with potential clients to prepare projects, and to subsequently supervise those projects not managed by Professor Bordone.

Janice Duchene Clinical Coordinator, Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) Faculty Assistant for Professor Robert Bordone

Janice joined HNMCP in August of 2008, after completing her Master’s in International Studies and Human Rights at the University of Denver. In this program, she was active in the University of Denver Antislavery and Anti-trafficking Task Force as well as the US Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, as a political intern.  Prior to earning her Master’s, Janice worked as a Peace Corps TEFL volunteer in Turkmenistan and a UNESCO education research assistant in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  She graduated from Brown University in 2004 with a Bachelor’s in International Relations, focused on diplomacy.

Janice serves as the nerve center of the clinic; handling publicity including the website, print brochure, and alumni connections, as well as fielding questions from students, clients, and colleagues alike.  Please feel free to contact Janice with any questions or comments about HNMCP.