According to an estimate by the Department of Higher Education, there are around 17,000 cases pending before the High Court of Orissa, State Education Tribunal and other forums. It is therefore, imperative to understand the reasons for pendency to address the litigation crisis. National Law University Odisha had undertaken a research project in collaboration with the Department of Higher Education, Government of Odisha titled “Litigation Management in Higher Education: A Case Study of Odisha”, to find the reasons for the litigation crisis in the Higher Education Department and also to provide alternatives other than pursuing litigation, to address the grievances. The main objective of the project is to understand the reasons behind the pendency of the cases and to find out the common legal issues in Higher Education disputes, to identify the gaps and suggest administrative methods to deal with the systematic issues to reduce pendency of litigation in various forums and to suggest a litigation policy for the State of Odisha in Higher Education.