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Agenda | Day 2
ADR Annual Conference

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Annual Meeting

September 21, 2024 | 8:30 a.m. - 8:55 a.m. ET

Topic

Annual Meeting

Track 1

Track 2

Artificial Intelligence:  How Technology is Reshaping the ADR  Process

Watch Now

September 21, 2024

9:00 am - 9:50 am ET

Panelists

  • Lisa W. Timmons

    • Lisa W. Timmons, PLLC

  • Harshitha Ram

    • Lex Apotheke Attorneys & International Arbitrators

  • Janice Holdinski

    • Vice President, American Arbitration Association   

Topic

This program will provide a better understanding of the benefits and the risks using AI in the ADR process including:

· Re-affirming that the approach using AI should have a judicious balance, ensuring that the essence of human judgment, empathy, and ethics remain paramount in arbitration and mediation.

·Identifying the important factors in implementing AI in the ADR process – ethical considerations, case law and legal guidance, potential biases in algorithms and the need for human oversight.

Attendees will broaden their knowledge and understanding on the ethical obligations to the ADR process when using AI, improve the arbitrator’s ability to use AI efficiently and fairly in the ADR process and enhance your toolkit to better serve the evolving needs of the parties.

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Courthouse College: How Litigation Experience Can Enhance Your Mediation Skill Set

Watch Now

September 21, 2024

9:00 am - 9:50 am ET

Panelists

  • Sheldon J. Stark

    • Mediator and Arbitrator

Topic

Courtroom experience as a trial lawyer can provide priceless lessons to inform and enhance your mediation techniques when mediating court-filed disputes.  This presentation will suggest the many ways former litigators can mine their courtroom experience for invaluable lessons to employ at the mediation table.

• Dressing for Success                                                                                 

• Lessons learned from jury selection

• Trial lawyer as “teacher”

• Trial lawyer as “credible expert witness”

• Coaching advocates

• Risk analysis

• Persuasion and advocacy for neutrals

Restorative Justice Practices in the Criminal Legal System

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September 21, 2024

10:00 am - 10:50 am ET

Attend

Panelists

  • Alex Green IV

    • ​Alex Green IV, PLLC

  • Belinda Dulin

    • Executive Director, The Dispute Resolution Center

  • Christine Gilman

    • Executive Director, Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan

  • Joseph D. Jackson

    • ​Assistant Prosecutor

Topic

The presentation will cover restorative practices in Kent County juvenilecourt as well as its history in elementary, middle, and high schools; Washtenaw County’s restorative justice policy and rollout; Identify which offenses are not eligible for restorative justice (e.g.,capital crimes, intimate partner  violence); How victims respond to being offered restorative justice. We will also discuss how the criminal legal system can be deployed more efficiently and effectively in conjunction with restorative practice/justice. 

Topic

The presentation will cover restorative practices in Kent County juvenilecourt as well as its history in elementary, middle, and high schools; Washtenaw County’s restorative justice policy and rollout; Identify which offenses are not eligible for restorative justice (e.g.,capital crimes, intimate partner  violence); How victims respond to being offered restorative justice. We will also discuss how the criminal legal system can be deployed more efficiently and effectively in conjunction with restorative practice/justice. 

Speakers

  • Belinda Dulin

    • Executive Director, The Dispute Resolution Center

  • Alex Green IV, PLLC

    • Moderator, Alex Green PLLC

  • Christine Gilman

    • Executive Director, Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan

  • Christopher Becker

    • Kent County's Prosecuting Attorney
       

Neutral Analysis - An Overlooked Tool For Understanding And Settling Disputes

Watch Now

September 21, 2024

10:00 am - 10:50 am ET

Panelists

  • Clarence L. Pozza Jr., Esq.

  • Hon. Lita M. Popke (Ret.)   

Topic

This will be an interactive presentation consisting of an overview of the key elements of Neutral Analysis and discussion of its potential use in disputes.  The key learning objective is to educate the audience on the elements of Neutral Analysis so that they gain an understanding of its potential use in resolving many types of disputes.

The Economics of Resolution: Tools for Settling High-Value Cases in ADR

Watch Now

September 21, 2024

11:00 am - 11:50 am ET

Panelists

  • Lisa W. Timmons

    • Lisa W. Timmons, PLLC

  • Dennis M. Barnes,

    • Dennis M. Barnes, PLLC

  • Hon. Denise Langford Morris (Ret.)

    • JAMS Mediator, Arbitrator and Referee/Special Master

  • Michael S. Leib

    • Leib ADR, LLC

Topic

The topic delves into the economic benefits of settling high-value cases with different alternative dispute resolution (ADR) tools and techniques. The panel will explore ADR tools that take a deeper dive into negotiations, focusing on the economic reality of settlement as opposed to protracted litigation.  The proposed agenda includes:

 

  • A discussion about using ADR to explore the economic value behind settlement versus litigation.

  • ADR tools for settlement, including:

  • Early Dispute Resolution (EDR):

  • Blue Ribbon Panels:

  • Discussion about how to address and manage electronically stored information (ESI), so that the discovery process does not become excessively burdensome, costly, or prone to delays.

  • Identifying key skills and techniques for an effective cost-benefit case analysis

  • Examples of successful high-value settlements achieved through ADR

  • Strategies for promoting ADR across various industries.

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Trial Risks: Overestimating, Underestimating & Using Our Superpower

Watch Now

September 21, 2024

11:00 am - 11:50 am ET

Panelist

  • David C. Sarnacki

    • The Sarnacki Law Firm PLC

Topic

Join this lively session on litigation risk analysis and learn skills that promote more satisfying outcomes for clients (and for attorneys). In the midst of chaos, deliver a sense of control and certainty, while limiting costs. Show confidence in your process and improve decision making and satisfaction. Challenge the two sources of dissatisfaction: overestimating the probability of winning and underestimating all the costs (financial and intangible). Be empowered with such techniques as Decision Trees, Net Outcome Exercise, and your personal superpower: Curiosity.Join this lively session on litigation risk analysis and learn skills that promote more satisfying outcomes for clients (and for attorneys). In the midst of chaos, deliver a sense of control and certainty, while limiting costs. Show confidence in your process and improve decision making and satisfaction. Challenge the two sources of dissatisfaction: overestimating the probability of winning and underestimating all the costs (financial and intangible). Be empowered with such techniques as Decision Trees, Net Outcome Exercise, and your personal superpower: Curiosity.

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The Ethics Game

Watch Now

September 21, 2024

12:00 pm - 12:50 pm ET

Panelists

  • Anne Bachle Fifer

    • Mediator, Trainer, Peacemaker

Topic

The Ethics Game consists of several ethical dilemmas that mediators face. Each dilemma is described, then offers four multiple-choice options for what the mediator should do. The audience will be encouraged to consult the Mediator Standards of Conduct to select the best answer. Then the trainer announces what she considers to be the best answer, with explanation followed by (often lively) discussion.

This is a fun and painless way to learn more about the Mediator Standards of Conduct and to consider how a mediator should respond in challenging situations. The dilemmas are based on actual experiences of the trainer, or come from reported appellate cases.

Comparing/ Contrasting  Common Practices and strategies in Mediation

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September 21, 2024

12:00 pm - 12:50 pm ET

Panelists

  • Donald H. Passenger

    • Attorney at Law

  • Jonathan R. Moothart

    • Moothart & Safara, PLC

Topic

In this session presenters will discuss the advantages of flexibility in mediation processes and will compare the pros and cons of different approaches, and encourage mediators to not use a one size fits all template of how to conduct any given mediation. Topics will include:       

 

  • Joint session to start mediation or not

  • Meeting only with counsel and not clients at times

  • In person vs via zoom or remote

  • Split sessions vs Split Rooms

  • Marathon sessions – stay until we get it done

  • Multiple sessions – set blocks of time

  • Mediator’s proposal – should we be suggesting an outcome?

  • Mediation Briefs – exchanged between the parties, or ex parte? (or some combination)