About

Mission

The Asian Labor Arbitration Project promotes multi-disciplinary research, education, and training concerning workplace dispute resolution in eastern Asia.

In support of its mission, the principal activities involve:

  • To establish a global repository of knowledge concerning labor and employment mediation and arbitration in eastern Asia.
  • To conduct focused research, provide consulting services, and host regional conferences in Asia
  • To publish country and/or regional reports on workplace dispute resolution, issue an arbitral fairness index, and offer colloquium seminars
  • To offer research and publishing opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students
  • To align current code of social responsibilities (CSR) with workplace dispute resolution
  • To collaborate with existing China and Asian scholars, US government agencies, and other academic institutions

Project Leadership

Richard Fincher, Mediator and Labor Arbitrator ~ Instructor of Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution, Cornell University

Mr. Fincher is a Lecturer in the Scheinman Institute. At Cornell University, he has trained hundreds of mediators and labor arbitrators, and has unique expertise in the substantive and procedural development of labor arbitrators. He co-founded the Student Arbitration Clinical Competition, and serves on the Scheinman Advisory Board. He is a Scholar on labor arbitration in eastern Asia, primarily Vietnam. Mr. Fincher has served as a visiting law professor at Hamline University College of Law, University of California at Davis School of Law, and the Sandra Day O’Conner College of Law at Arizona State University

From 2009-2012, Mr. Fincher served as the USAID Consultant for Workplace Dispute Resolution with the National Industrial Relations Project in Vietnam. He is the subject-matter expert and a published author for workplace dispute resolution in Vietnam. Mr. Fincher is employed as a full-time mediator and labor arbitrator, and is also an elected member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. He holds a license to practice law in several states.

Rocco Scanza, Mediator and Labor Arbitrator ~ Cornell University

Mr. Scanza currently serves as the Executive Director of the Institute on Conflict Resolution at Cornell University. In this capacity, he has built an institution of national prominence in ADR, and has taught hundreds of promising mediators and arbitrators.

Mr. Scanza has unique expertise in the recruitment, selection, training, compensation, and administrative management of mediators and labor arbitrators. He previously served as the National Vice-Present of Neutrals Relations for the American Arbitration Association. He holds a license to practice law in several states.

Advisory Faculty

  • David Lipsky, ILR Anne Evans Estabrook Professor of Dispute Resolution
  • Eli Friedman, ILR Assistant Professor, China Scholar
  • Lance Compa, ILR Senior Lecturer, International Labor Rights Scholar
  • Sarosh Kuruvilla, ILR Professor, Industrial Relations, Asian Studies and Public Affairs

Institutional Partners

  • Patrick McDermott
  • Professor of Legal Studies and Management Franklin P. Perdue School of Business
  • Director of Research and Evaluation Center for Conflict Resolution
  • Salisbury University, Maryland