Alternative Dispute Resolution Section

Chair-Elect
Kirte M. Kinser

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Brown McCarrol LLP
2001 Ross Ave, Suite 2000
Dallas, TX 75201-2995
Phone: 214-999-6100
Email: KKinser@mailbmc.com

Secretary
Victoria Pynchon

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ADR Services, Inc., Century City California
American Arbitration Association, Expedited Commercial Panel
499 North Canon Drive, Suite 400
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
T. 323-217-5162
F. 323-852-1535
www.settlenow.com
vpynchon@settlenow.com

Treasurer
Gregory L. Bertram

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Bertram Dispute Resolution, Inc.
1008 Western Ave., Suite 302
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: 206-624-3388
Email: greggb@bertramadr.com

Board Member
Jeff Kichaven, Mediator
Suite 3000
555 West Fifth Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Phone: 310-721-5785
Email: jk@jeffkichaven.com

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Message from the Chair

The May 2009 issue of The Federal Lawyer was dedicated to our section's theme, dispute resolution. One feature article, linked here, included summaries from all circuits regarding their dispute resolution practices. We hope you will enjoy it and thank editor-in-chief Rene Harrod for her work with Mike Newman in creating and gathering stories for this issue.

This seems an appropriate time to reach out to you to encourage your active participation in the ADR Section. The ADR Section provides an excellent forum for spreading the word, developing ADR skills through CLE programs, and engaging in events with like-minded practitioners. It is also a voice for lawyers with interest in this field to promote legislation or other initiatives that further the practice and ends of ADR—quality processes for optimal resolutions that put the parties and the realities of their life circumstances first.

1. Board & Committee Openings. One major way of contributing to
the ADR Section is by participation on its board. Our leadership ladder is made of the chair, chair-elect, secretary, treasurer, immediate past chair, chairs of committees formed under Article V of the section's bylaws, and up to six (6) members at large. There are ample opportunities to serve on the board and take leadership positions in this national organization. We warmly welcome your participation and invite you to apply for a position on the board.

Additionally, there are opportunities to participate in the section's standing committees: the Federal Court Programs Committee; Commercial Practices and Procedures Committee; and Certifications, Qualifications and Implementations Committee. Volunteers are needed for all of these committees. Please submit your names for any committee in which you wish to participate. Moreover, if you think we should form other committees, please let me know. This is an opportunity for you to accomplish what you believe is important.

If you are interested please send me an e-mail at simeonhb@disputeResolve.com and to Adrienne Woolley, the FBA manager of sections and divisions, at awoolley@fedbar.org, and in the subject line please indicate "ADR Section Election." Please remember to indicate in the body of your e-mail if you would like to be nominated for a section officer position or participate in one of the section's standing committees. If you have any questions please contact me (information at left) or Adrienne by phone at (571) 481-9100.

2. Danger: Arbitration Fairness Act. In keeping with our section's charge, I would like to alert you to a piece of legislation that is pending in Congress which could have serious negative impact on arbitration—the proposed Arbitration Fairness Act. This legislation has been generated with good intentions, to protect employees and consumers from unconscionable agreements. Unfortunately, the way it is written could also have the unintended effect of gutting commercial arbitration. It also would alter long developed principles concerning the relative role of arbitrators and the courts, needlessly multiplying proceedings. The New York State Bar Association's Executive Committee recently addressed this issue by approving the report of its Dispute Resolution Section as part of the state bar's legislative initiative. A copy of this report is annexed. I urge you to review this report and share your thoughts with me. I anticipate that you, like the members of other groups concerned with ADR, will see the force of this report and the danger of the currently drafted Arbitration Fairness Act.

With your feedback, we intend to send this to the FBA's government relations counsel, Bruce Moyer, and put this on the FBA's legislative agenda. I would note that the annexed report, initially authored by Edna Sussman (formerly of White and Case and a longstanding arbitrator on the AAA and other panels), is largely uncontroversial. By contrast, the ABA's Dispute Resolution Section recently also made recommendations to alter the Arbitration Fairness Act, but might have bitten off more than it could chew. The ABA comments addressed the consumer and employee issues, recommending, inter alia, opt out provisions and a due process protocol. While these are laudable provisions, they are complex and tend to stratify people on both sides of the labor/management or consumer/institutional tables. As a result there has been a fair amount of controversy airing itself on various ADR listserves concerning the ABA proposals. The trouble is that while the various camps are duking it out, the dangerous bill can march forward, without necessary opposition from the ADR community and broader bar. The NYSBA report skirts the consumer and employee issues, leaving that for fuller consideration elsewhere, and wisely focusing on the key provisions that endanger commercial arbitration and longstanding arbitration principles.

Again, we urge you to consider the annexed report and give us your candid feedback, and, we hope, your support. Please send your comments to me at simeonhb@disputeResolve.com and to Adrienne Woolley at awoolley@fedbar.org, and in the subject line please indicate "ADR Section - Arbitration Fairness Act."

3. The Resolver—Editors and Writers Needed. Inspired by this month's issue of The Federal Lawyer, we believe it is high time that the ADR Section gave regular voice to ADR themes. We know that there are many of you who have something significant to say about this field, and encourage you to take an active role in the section's new newsletter, The Resolver. We are looking for someone who would like to lead this effort as The Resolver's first editor. This is a tremendous creative opportunity. In addition, we seek articles for the first issue, which will make its mark in FBA history, and will no doubt be a keepsake.

If you are interested, please let us know by sending me an e-mail at simeonhb@disputeResolve.com and to Adrienne Woolley, the FBA manager of sections and divisions, at awoolley@fedbar.org, and in the subject line please indicate "ADR Section - The Resolver."

4. CLE Programs. The FBA offers many opportunities to put on
CLE programs of interest to the bar on ADR. Given the FBA's unique structure, these can be done on a national level—e.g., at the annual meeting of the FBA—or on a local level, often best when done in conjunction with a local district chapter. If you have any thoughts for a CLE program, please let us know and we will do what we can to facilitate and publicize this effort. One thought, springing from this month's article in The Federal Lawyer in which circuit mediators provide guidance on mediation in their circuit program, is to turn that article into a series of roundtables held at a local level in which the circuit mediator or the district court ADR coordinator can speak with local mediators and practitioners. This is a great opportunity for us to thank them, give them candid feedback, and to gather with others who share this common interest. If you would like to take the lead or to learn more about these local roundtables, please send me an e-mail at simeonhb@disputeResolve.com and to Adrienne Woolley, the FBA manager of sections and divisions, at awoolley@fedbar.org, and in the subject line please indicate "ADR Section - CLE."

You have at your fingertips many opportunities to contribute to the ADR field and to grow in the process. I look forward to hearing from you. Many thanks and best regards.

Simeon Baum
ADR Section Chair

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Election of ADR Section Leadership Positions

This is your opportunity to become an active member of the ADR Section. The Nominating Committee is seeking nominations for section officers in the positions of chair-elect, secretary, and treasurer. The Nominating Committee will nominate one person for each open office from the names submitted to the committee.

Additionally, there are opportunities to become active by becoming a member at large to the governing board of the section, as well as participating in the section’s standing committees: The Federal Court Programs Committee; The Commercial Practices and Procedures; The Certifications, Qualifications and Implementations Committee. Volunteers are needed for all of these committees. Please submit your names for any committee in which you wish to participate.

If you are interested please send an e-mail awoolley@fedbar.org and in the subject line please indicate “ADR Section Election.” Please remember to indicate in the body of your e-mail if you would like to be nominated for a section officer position or participate in one of the section’s standing committees. If you have any questions please contact Adrienne Woolley, FBA Manager of Section and Divisions at awoolley@fedbar.org or (571) 481-9100.

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Newsletters

Summer 2009

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