Faculty

Katheryn M. Dutenhaver

Professor Katheryn M. Dutenhaver, Esq. is the Director of the Center for Dispute Resolution in the College of Law where she has been a law professor for more than thirty years. During the last twenty years she has been teaching Mediation and other dispute resolution courses in the College of Law, mediating and arbitrating complex business cases, mediating divorce cases and conducting Mediation Training Programs. In the dispute resolution field she also designs dispute resolution systems, facilitates the resolution of large group conflict, and serves as a consultant. Her experience of twenty-plus years practicing law includes transactional work and litigation.

As an experienced mediator in complex business disputes she has resolved cases involving diverse commercial issues for corporations, family-owned businesses, partnerships, real estate developers, condominium associations, landlords-tenants, franchises, trade associations, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, health-care organizations, universities, religious organizations, public school systems, federal agencies, military installations, and local municipalities. In the employment area she has resolved matters involving harassment, performance review and wrongful termination. She has mediated disputes involving individuals with issues in professional liability, insurance coverage, disability and health care matters, consumer disputes, real estate matters, personal injuries, wrongful death claims, clergy-abuse cases, estate planning and estate settlements.

At DePaul University College of Law, Professor Dutenhaver has served as Acting Dean and Associate Dean. Her courses have been primarily in the areas of dispute resolution, property, estates, and remedies. She designed and continues to teach the courses in the dispute resolution curriculum and she coordinates the adjunct dispute resolution faculty. She was co-founder and the first Director of DePaul's Center for Dispute Resolution where she conducts certificate training courses in mediation for lawyers, judges, corporate counsel, executives, managers and school administrators. In 1988, she co-founded the Interfaith Family Mediation Project, a service project of the Center for Church/State Studies sponsored by DePaul University College of Law and continues to serve as a volunteer mediator.

Professor Dutenhaver has published several articles on mediation and frequently lectures on mediation and dispute resolution before university, professional, business, governmental and community groups in this country and in Europe. She has served as a member of the Editorial Board of the Mediation Quarterly. She is a 1972 graduate of DePaul University College of Law, earned a BA degree from North Central College in 1960 and a MA from the University of Chicago in 2007. She was licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois in 1972 and practiced with the law firm, Wildman, Harrold Allen & Dixon. Professor Dutenhaver has served as an officer or member on alternative dispute resolution committees for the Mediation Council of Illinois, the Circuit court of Cook County, Illinois, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the American Bar association, and the Illinois Supreme Court.

Education

B.A., North Central College; J.D., DePaul University; M.A. University of Chicago