About
Elena Hartwell teaches law and conflict resolution at the intersection of scholarship and practice. Her work examines how institutions can handle disagreement in ways that are fair, humane, and durable.
Hartwell is a professor of law whose scholarship addresses procedural fairness, institutional trust, and the practical ethics of mediation. Her writing has been published in leading legal and public policy journals, and she is frequently invited to speak on conflict, listening, and organizational repair.
Restorative justice, legal ethics, mediation, democratic governance, public disagreement, and the design of fair institutional processes. Her work is known for translating complex legal ideas into practical, human-centered frameworks for collective decision-making.
Approach
Hartwell’s research and practice draw on the conviction that conflict is not merely a problem to be managed, but an opportunity to design more legitimate and more humane systems. She works with organizations facing intense disagreement and with communities trying to rebuild trust after rupture.
Her teaching blends doctrine, theory, and practice, preparing students to engage with conflict in public life, legal settings, and professional institutions. The result is a public-facing scholarship that is intellectually serious and immediately relevant to the pressures of contemporary institutions.