Donna Shestowsky

x

Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law

2135 King Hall
Donna Shestowsky is Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis, School of Law. She is also a faculty member of the Graduate Group in Psychology at UC Davis. She teaches Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Advanced Negotiation and Client Counseling, Lawyering Process, Negotiation Strategy, and Legal Psychology. Her scholarship focuses on examining core assumptions of the legal system and identifying ways to improve legal procedures through insights from psychological theory and research.
 
Dr. Shestowsky has led nationally recognized research on how litigants evaluate legal procedures, serving as the sole principal investigator on a multi-year project funded by the National Science Foundation and the American Bar Association. Her work has received multiple honors, including the 2016 Mangano Dispute Resolution Advancement Award, the 2018 AALS Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution Best Article Award, and the 2024 AALS Section on Litigation Scholar Award.
 
Her expertise is featured in national media outlets such as CNN, NPR, and The New York Times. In addition to her academic work, she advises courts on the design of court-connected ADR programs and provides negotiation training to corporations and law firms. She also coached the law school’s negotiation team for nearly two decades, during which time the team consistently achieved top national rankings and earned a world championship title. She received the UC Davis School of Law Distinguished Teaching Award in 2007.
 
Dr. Shestowsky’s research appears in leading journals across law and psychology, including the Stanford Law Review, Law and Human Behavior, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. She is committed to making empirical research accessible to practitioners. To that end, she also publishes in outlets such as Court Review and Dispute Resolution Magazine.
 
She graduated with a B.A. and M.S. (Psychology) from Yale University and holds a J.D. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University. In 2023-24, she held a joint visiting (“VAP”) appointment at Northwestern University School of Law and the Kellogg School of Management. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a former Chair of the AALS Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution, which was named Section of the Year during her tenure. In 2025, she was elected to the American Law Institute.
Education and Degree(s)
  • B.S. Psychology, Yale University
  • M.S. Psychology, Yale University
  • J.D. Stanford University
  • Ph.D. Psychology, Stanford University
Honors and Awards
  • Outstanding Short Article Award, International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (2024).
  • Scholar Award, AALS Section on Litigation (2024).
  • Section of the Year, AALS (2024).
  • American Bar Foundation Fellow (elected 2021).
  • Chair, AALS Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution (2023).
  • Best Article in the Field of Dispute Resolution (Best Article of 2018), AALS Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution (2019).
  • Faculty Development Award, University of California, Davis (2018-19) .
  • Mangano Dispute Resolution Advancement (“Best Paper”) Award, Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution (2016).
  • Ninth Circuit ADR Education Award (on behalf of University of California, Davis, School of Law) (2014).
  • Distinguished Teaching Award, Nominee, University of California, Davis, School of Law (2006 & 2014).
  • Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California, Davis, School of Law (2007).
Research Interests & Expertise
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Juries
  • Negotiation Strategy
  • Change of Venue Surveys
  • Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)
  • Empirical Research
  • Law and Psychology
Membership and Service
  • Director of Legal Skills Education, UC Davis
  • Graduate Group in Psychology, Faculty, UC Davis
  • AALS Section on Dispute Resolution, Chair-Elect (2021)
  • American Bar Foundation Fellow
  • American Bar Association
  • American Psychology-Law Association
  • Association of American Law Schools
  • International Association for Conflict Management
  • Massachusetts Bar

Publications

Donna Shestowsky, Behind Every Case is a Conversation, Nev. L. J.  (forthcoming).

Nancy A. Welsh & Donna Shestowsky, Lawyers’ Client-Inclusive Negotiations: The “New Mediation”?  Harv. Negot. L. Rev. 1 (2025).

Andrea C.F. Wolfs, Donna Shestowsky, Deborah Goldfarb, Justice via Chat? How Litigants’ Preferences and Attorneys’ Recommendations Influence the Choice to Use Online Dispute Resolution, 30 Psych. Pub. Pol’y & L.  348 (2024).

Donna Shestowsky, Discussing Procedure, 39 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 325 (2024).

Hannah M. Johnson, Stephanie D. Block, Donna Shestowsky, Joseph E. Gonzales, Kristy L. Shockley & Gail S. Goodman, Discernment of Children's True and False Memory Reports: Police Officers and Laypersons, 39 J. Interpersonal Violence 2238 (2024).

Deborah Thompson Eisenberg, Donna Shestowsky & Robert R. Niccolini, What Matters to Employment Attorneys When Considering Online or In-Person Mediation?, 41 ALTS. TO HIGH COST OF LITIG. 151 (2023).

Donna Shestowsky, Civil Litigants’ Evaluations of Their Legal Experiences, 19 ANN. REV. L. & SOC. SCI. 19 (2023).

Donna Shestowsky & Jennifer Shack, Ten Tips for Getting the Most Out of an Evaluation of Your ODR Program, 59 CT. REV. 6 (2023).

Jennifer Shack & Donna Shestowsky, Access to Justice: Lessons for Designing Text-Based Court-Connected ODR Programs, 29 DISP. RESOL. MAG. 29 (2023).

DONNA SHESTOWSKY & JENNIFER SHACK, UNIV. OF CAL., DAVIS, RESOL. SYS. INST., ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION FOR POST-JUDGMENT FAMILY LAW CASES: A REPORT TO THE OTTAWA COUNTY, MICHIGAN, FRIEND OF THE COURT (2022). 

Donna Shestowsky, Why Client Expectations of Legal Procedures Must Be Managed to Achieve Settlement Satisfaction, 40 ALTS. TO HIGH COST OF LITIG. 105 (2022).  

DONNA SHESTOWSKY & JENNIFER SHACK, UNIV. OF CAL., DAVIS, RESOL. SYS. INST., ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION FOR DEBT AND SMALL CLAIMS CASES: A REPORT ON A PILOT PROGRAM IN COLLIN COUNTY, TEXAS (2022). 

DONNA SHESTOWSKY & JENNIFER SHACK, UNIV. OF CAL., DAVIS, RESOL. SYS. INST., LITIGANTS' EXPERIENCE WITH SMALL CLAIMS COURT: A REPORT TO THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT, STATE OF HAWAII (2021) (limited distribution report). 

Donna Shestowsky, How Useful is Court ADR if People (Still) Don’t Know About it?, in DISCUSSIONS IN DISPUTE RESOLUTION: THE FOUNDATIONAL ARTICLES 327 (Art Hinshaw, Andrea Kupfer Schneider & Sarah Rudolph Cole eds., 2021).

Donna Shestowsky, Great Expectations? Comparing Litigants’ Attitudes Before and After Using Legal Procedures, 44 LAW & HUM. BEHAV. 179 (2020).

Mara Olekalns, Donna Shestowsky, Sylvia P. Skratek & Ann-Sophie de Pauw, The Double Helix of Theory and Practice: Celebrating Stephen J. Goldberg as a Scholar, Practitioner, and Mentor, 13 NEGOT. & CONFLICT MGMT. RSCH. 85 (2019).

Deborah Goldfarb, Sidnei Priolo-Filho, Janelle Sampana, Donna Shestowsky, Lucia C. A. Williams & Gail S. Goodman, International Comparison of Family Court Professionals’ Perceptions of Parental Alienation and Child Sexual Abuse Allegations, 2 INT'L J. ON CHILD MALTREATMENT 323 (2019).

Sidnei Priolo-Filho, Deborah Goldfarb, Donna Shestowsky, Janelle Sampana, Lucia C. A. Williams & Gail S. Goodman, Judgments Regarding Parental Alienation When Parental Hostility or Child Sexual Abuse is Alleged, 15 J. CHILD CUSTODY 302 (2019).

Ellen E. Deason, Michael Z. Green, Donna Shestowsky, Rory Van Loo & Ellen Waldman, ADR and Access to Justice: Current Perspectives, 33 OHIO ST. J. ON DISP. RESOL. 303 (2018).

Donna Shestowsky, Inside the Mind of the Client: An Analysis of Litigants’ Decision Criteria for Choosing Procedures, 36 CONFLICT RESOL. Q. 69 (2018).

Donna Shestowsky, Easing the Road to Civil Justice: Improving Litigants’ Awareness of ADR Options, 54 CT. REV. 142 (2018).

Donna Shestowsky, When Ignorance is Not Bliss: An Empirical Study of Litigants' Awareness of Court-Sponsored Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs, 22 HARV. NEGOT. L. REV. 189 (2017).

Jonni L. Johnson, Sue D. Hobbs, Yoojin Chae, Gail S. Goodman, Donna Shestowsky & Stephanie Block, “I Didn’t Do That!”: Event Valence and Child Age Influence Adults’ Discernment of Preschoolers’ True and False Statements, 36 J. INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE NP753 (2017).

Pietro Ortolani & Donna Shestowsky, Disputant Psychology in International Arbitration: What Can a Comparison with Domestic Arbitration Teach Us?, in THE ROLES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION (Tony Cole ed., 2017).

Donna Shestowsky, The Psychology of Negotiation: Using Persuasion to Negotiate More Effectively, in THE NEGOTIATOR'S DESK REFERENCE 339 (Andrea Kupfer Schneider & Christopher Honeyman eds., 2017).

Donna Shestowsky, How Litigants Evaluate the Characteristics of Legal Procedures: A Multi-Court Empirical Study, 49 U.C. DAVIS L. REV. 793 (2016).

Donna Shestowsky, New Research Sheds Light on How Litigants Evaluate the Characteristics of Legal Procedures, 34 ALTS. TO HIGH COST OF LITIG. 145 (2016).  

Donna Shestowsky, Mediation? Negotiation? Arbitration? Trial?: A Multicourt Study Looks at Litigants' Preferences, 21 DISP. RESOL. MAG. 28 (2015).

Donna Shestowsky, How Litigants Evaluate Legal Procedures at the Start of Their Cases, 50 CT. REV. 126 (2014).

Donna Shestowsky, The Psychology of Procedural Preference: How Litigants Evaluate Legal Procedures Ex Ante, 99 IOWA L. REV. 637 (2014).

Stephanie D. Block, Donna Shestowsky, Daisy A. Segovia, Gail S. Goodman, Jennifer M. Schaff & Kristen W. Alexander, That Never Happened: Adults’ Discernment of Children’s True and False Memory Reports, 36 LAW & HUM. BEHAV. 365 (2012).

Lee Ross & Donna Shestowsky, Two Social Psychologists’ Reflections on Situationism and the Criminal Justice System, in IDEOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, AND LAW 612 (Jon Hanson ed., 2012).

DONNA SHESTOWSKY, AN EVALUATION OF THE VENTURA SUPERIOR COURT SMALL CLAIMS MEDIATION PROGRAM (2011) (limited distribution report).

Donna Shestowsky & Jeanne Brett, Disputants’ Perceptions of Dispute Resolution Procedures: An Ex Ante and Ex Post Longitudinal Empirical Study, 41 CONN. L. REV. 63 (2008).

Donna Shestowsky, Disputants’ Preferences for Dispute Resolution: Why We Should Care and Why We Know So Little, 23 OHIO ST. J. ON DISP. RESOL. 549 (2008).

Donna Shestowsky, Misjudging: Implications for Dispute Resolution, 7 NEV. L.J. 487 (2007).

Donna Shestowsky, Dispute Resolution, Psychology of, in ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LAW AND SOCIETY: AMERICAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 427 (David S. Clark ed., 2007).

Donna Shestowsky, Psychology and Persuasion, in THE NEGOTIATOR'S FIELDBOOK 361 (Andrea Kupfer Schneider & Christopher Honeyman eds., 2006).

Janice Nadler & Donna Shestowsky, Negotiation, Information Technology, and the Problem of the Faceless Other, in NEGOTIATION THEORY AND RESEARCH 145 (Leigh L. Thompson ed., 2006).

Donna Shestowsky, Procedural Preferences in Alternative Dispute Resolution: A Closer, Modern Look at an Old Idea, 10 PSYCH., PUB. POL’Y, & L. 211 (2004).

Donna Shestowsky & Leonard M. Horowitz, How the Need for Cognition Scale Predicts Behavior in Mock Jury Deliberations, 28 LAW & HUM. BEHAV. 305 (2004).

Donna Shestowsky, Improving Summary Jury Trials: Insights from Psychology, 18 OHIO ST. J. ON DISP. RESOL. 469 (2003).

Lee Ross & Donna Shestowsky, Contemporary Psychology’s Challenges to Legal Theory and Practice, 97 NW. U.L. REV. 1081 (2003).

Franklin Strier & Donna Shestowsky, Profiling the Profilers: A Study of the Trial Consulting Profession, Its Impact on Trial Justice and What, if Anything, to Do About It, 1999 WIS. L. REV. 441 (1999).

Donna Shestowsky, Where is the Common Knowledge? Empirical Support for Requiring Expert Testimony in Sexual Harassment Trials, 51 STAN. L. REV. 357 (1999).

Donna Shestowsky, Duane T. Wegener & Leandre R. Fabrigar, Need for Cognition and Interpersonal Influence: Individual Differences in Impact on Dyadic Decisions, 74 J. PERSONALITY & SOC. PSYCHOL. 1317 (1998).

Tags

Administration American Law Institute