NSU Shepard Broad College of Law | Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Registration is now open! We invite you to join us for this community event, the 2024 program entitled The Power of Choice: Mediator Shortlists & Arbitrator Panels. 

How do you choose your neutral?  How do you get chosen as a neutral?  Law is less diverse than other professions in the U.S., and ADR is an even less diverse corner of the law.  What to do about it?  Join our panelists as they provide a bird’s eye view of initiatives to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the areas of mediation and arbitration, and the field of dispute resolution on a state and national level.

The event will feature two sessions followed by an intimate reception with our speakers and attendees.

Session 1: Conversations about Diversity of ADR in Florida

• Moderator: Ana Cristina Maldonado
• Panelists: Chris Shulman, Dorsey Miller, Jeanne Charles, Angela Romero Valedon (AAA), Patricia Thompson (JAMS), and  Kelly Overstreet Johnson. 
• Material: Each presenter approaches the topic from a different perspective in the business and practice of dispute resolution.  The panelists include the authors of a recent Florida Bar Journal on diversity in ADR, who will share their research on the state of ADR in Florida, a representative from the American Arbitration Association (AAA) who will discuss diversity from the perspective of a large panel of neutrals, and from a former Bar president and litigator who has recently transitioned to work as a neutral, discussing elements of career success for mediators and arbitrators and the importance of a diversity lens on the part of the attorneys hiring neutrals.   

SESSION 2: National Conversations about Diversity in ADR

• Moderator: Ana Cristina Maldonado
• Panelists: Homer LaRue (Co-founder of Ray Corollary Initiative, past president of National Association of Arbitrators, and recipient of the American Bar Association’s 2020 Sandy D’Alemberte Award) and Ana Sambold (Chair of the American Bar Association’s DR Section). 
• Material: The two visiting national presenters will discuss their experiences researching the state of diversity in the field of ADR across the U.S. – particularly touching on mediation (mediation shortlists) and arbitration (arbitration panels), the development and continuing evolution of resources and directories such as the American Bar Association’s Resolution 105 on diversity of neutrals, the creation of the Ray Corollary Initiative (modeled on the NFL’s Mansfield Rule),  an overview of existing resources such as the Women in Dispute Resolution (WIDR) committee of the ABA, the downstream impact of the ABA and RCI’s efforts, the discussion regarding quotas vs. pledges, goals and accountability, and next steps.  Time will be reserved for audience questions and answers. 

This is a free event. CLE credits are pending and will be available for attorneys. 

Please bookmark our website for presenter and moderator biographies and updates to our program. 

We invite you to register now to reserve your seat for this critically important community event.  

REGISTER HERE

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For additional information about this program, please contact Ana Cristina Maldonado at maldonadomediation@gmail.com.