Roberta S. Mitchell

Professor Emerita J.D., Capital University Law School B.A. with honors, West Virginia University

Roberta S. Mitchell is a Professor Emerita and Founder of the Family Advocacy Clinic. She was an Assistant Professor (1972-1974), a Professor of Law (1974-2011), Co-Director of Center for Dispute Resolution (1984-2011) and Director of the Family Advocacy Clinic (2000-2011).

The first woman to graduate from Capital University Law School’s full-time day program in 1972, she was also the first student editor of the Capital University Law Review. She is a champion for victims of family violence and was a pioneer in creating and teaching courses in mediation, negotiation and alternative dispute resolution.

As the Co-Director of the Capital University Law School Center for Dispute Resolution she bravely took her passion for mediation and arbitration to Jamaica as the director of the Capital –Jamaica Project (1985) and to Nicaragua as the Director of the Nicaragua Dispute Resolution Program (1991). She developed and co-authored material and training for the Governor’s Commission for Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management (1988) and has been an innovator in the development of training programs and materials in dispute resolution for a wide variety of organizations. She was also a founder of Community Mediation Services of Central Ohio and served on its first Board of Trustees.

Professor Mitchell has taught a generation of law students her “client centered” approach to legal education. She taught them to be competent, caring and effective attorneys who recognize that good attorneys are concerned not just with the legal needs of the client, but also with their social, psychological and economic interests as well. She is a friend, mentor and role model to both men and women in the legal profession and her positive example in the dispute resolution movement has made her a valuable asset to our entire community.