What You Learn in New Orleans Doesn t Stay In New Orleans

Transcription

1 ASSOCIATION OF ATTORNEY-MEDIATORS presents its ADVANCED ATTORNEY-MEDIATOR TRAINING and Annual Meeting What You Learn in New Orleans Doesn t Stay In New Orleans Friday, May 1, 2015 Hyatt Regency New Orleans 601 Loyola Avenue New Orleans, LA :00-8:15 am Conference Check-in, Registration and Continental Breakfast 8:15-8:30 am Welcoming Remarks Michael Leech, AAM National President, Chicago, IL Brenda Rachuig, AAM Executive Director, Dallas, TX Sid McCollum, AAM National President-elect, Little Rock, AR, Moderator 8:30-9:30 am The Tom Benson Family Dispute: ADR Opportunities for Trusts and Estates? Edward F. Sherman, New Orleans, LA Eighty-six year old Tom Benson, the owner of the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans and Louisiana's richest citizen, has been embroiled in litigation brought by his daughter and grandchildren concerning trusts he set up for them. There is plenty of money to go around, and one senses that breakdown of relationships and hurt feelings have been an important cause of the dispute. The passing down of family assets and succession to control of family enterprises can be contentious, providing opportunities for creative ADR devices, both in advance and at the time of rupture. The drafters of trusts and wills have generally not included ADR devices, and indeed trustees and executors are rarely equipped to deal with the mixture of personal and business issues they may have to face. An unduly large portion of trusts and estates can go for attorney fees and costs of litigation. Creators of family trusts and makers of wills should consider use of clauses for mandatory mediation or arbitration and the advance notification of beneficiaries of their desire to resolve any disputes amicably. (1.00 hour)

2 Agenda Page 2 9:30-10:30 am What Do Clients Value? Joseph Paulk, Tulsa, OK What factors do our clients value when deciding on a mediator? What are the most important traits of a mediator? How important are the amenities the facility, the lunches, the music, the extras? What do mediators do that irritates them? I surveyed a large number of mediation participants with those questions and more, and the results are fascinating. The responses are from a true cross-section of mediation participants -- plaintiff attorneys, insurance defense counsel, corporate counsel, coverage counsel, claims professionals, CFO s and other regular, experienced mediation attendees. Many of them handle cases nationally. Their responses were not specific to the case they were attending, but encompassed all of their mediation experiences. The insights gained from their answers are invaluable to understand what our clients really value and how we can all meet and exceed their expectations. (1.00 hour) 10:30-10:45 am Break 10:45-11:45 am Ethics: The Black and White Stuff is easy it s the Grey and Color Events that cause Nightmares Christopher Nolland, Dallas, TX This interactive presentation will raise tough ethical issues that mediators deal with on a daily basis and will invite the audience to be a part of the roundtable to find the answers to these ethical dilemmas. (1.00 hour ethics) 11:45 am-12:15 pm AAM Annual Meeting and Election of Directors We will be electing three new Board members and welcoming in our new President and President-Elect. All are invited to attend. Member participation is encouraged. 12:15-1:15 pm Lunch Enjoy A New Orleans Style Buffet Ethical Hurdles in Marketing Your Practice Digitally Michele Gibson, Atlanta, GA, Digital Smart Tools The internet offers a vehicle to easily and cost effectively reach thousands of people in need of your ADR services on a regular basis. However there are many ethical issues inherent in this type of marketing. Is it ethical to publish curated content? How should you handle a LinkedIn endorsement from someone who has never seen you work? What type of privacy and disclosure notices are needed for your website? We'll talk about these issues and more to help you build a checklist to ensure ethical compliance for your marketing efforts. (No CLE credit)

3 Agenda Page 3 1:15-2:15 pm Guided Choice: The Importance of Early Settlement to Your Career Paul Lurie and Michael Leech, Chicago, IL Most commercial cases eventually settle. Businesses where disputes are common want earlier settlements to eliminate business disruptions with significantly less process expense (i.e., legal costs). A collection of the best mediation practices to achieve these ends have been gathered under the name, Guided Choice. Guided Choice has the mediator working as soon as possible as a process facilitator. This phase occurs before any negotiations. The goals of this pre-negotiation phase are to identify all barriers to resolution and develop an efficient dispute resolution mechanism tailored to the disputes and the personalities of the decision makers.. A mediator has the unique ability to confidentially investigate barriers and recommend a process that overcomes these barriers. Guided Choice has attracted great interest from companies with large litigation budgets. The process is party-focused. Find out how it works and how you can add it to your toolkit in a conversation between Mike Leech and Paul Lurie Paul has written and lectured extensively nationally and internationally about the common sense of the Guided Choice approach to early dispute resolution. (1.00 hour) 2:15-3:15 pm Should We Get Rid Of The Joint Opening Session In Mediations? Thomas J. Smith, San Antonio, TX This session will discuss the declining popularity and use of the joint opening session in mediations. What do we say to the lawyer who says, Listen, the other lawyer and I have talked and we don t want to have an opening session we all know each other s positions and it would be a waste of time and counter-productive.? We will talk about what has caused this trend and what, if anything, could be done to reverse the trend. This will be an interactive presentation so bring your opinions and be prepared to share them. (1.00 hour) 3:15-3:30 pm Break with refreshments CLE sign-up sheets will be available at the break. Please sign on the sheet for the state(s) in which you wish to receive CLE credit. Your bar number is required. Certificates of Attendance will be available at the end of the day.

4 Agenda Page 4 3:30-4:15 pm Ethics Stuff The Rules Can t Keep Pace Robert Matlock, Frisco, TX Technology is a monster! An overwhelming volume of information coupled with lightning-fast communications have left many staid institutions in the dust. Among the casualties have been the traditional rules of ethics. Bar associations and courts have struggled to apply and/or adapt ethical guidelines and procedural rules so they make sense in the context of technology. This presentation takes a rather cynical look at the ethical and not so ethical practice of law in this evolving environment. (.75 hours ethics) 4:15-5:45 pm Presence and Attention in Mediation Ross Hostetter, Boulder, CO Tell me to what you pay attention, and I will tell you who you are. ~Jose Ortega y Gassett Every experienced mediator knows that much of that value that a mediator brings to the settlement process rests in his or her ability to establish rapport, build trust, and ultimately influence parties to make the right decision. In this 90 minute overview, Ross Hostetter will make the case that outcomes in mediation rest on the keystone habits of presence and attention, which are traits that can be learned and practiced by mediators at any level of experience. (1.50 hours) 5:45 pm Adjourn 5:45-6:30 pm Networking Reception (Prepaid and preregistered spouses/guests are welcome to join us.) Please join us for networking and recapping the day with mediator colleagues. Refreshments will be served in the meeting area.

5 Association of Attorney-Mediators Advanced Attorney-Mediator Training and Annual Meeting May 1, 2015 New Orleans, Louisiana Speakers Bios Michele Gibson is president of Digital Smart Tools, LLC and a Georgia licensed mediator specializing in zoning and land use issues. A serial entrepreneur, she has several decades of experience in both technology and marketing. Digital Smart Tools specializes in providing marketing services for mediators and arbitrators throughout North America. Michele can be reached by at: mgibson@digitalsmarttools.com Ross Hostetter is a 3,000 + case mediator, a founding director of the AAM, and winner of the Steve Brutche Award. He has taught numerous basic and advanced mediation trainings for the Association, for the American Academy of Attorney-Mediators, and for private clients such as Chevron Corp and the F.D.I.C.. He currently works with lawyers and other professionals in cultivating attention and presence as their defining professional characteristics. Michael Leech is a co-founder of the Illinois Chapter of AAM, was named a Top 100 Illinois Super Lawyer Mike is a distinguished fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, a member of the American Law Institute and a fellow in the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers. He has conducted over 300 mediations. His publications include the legal treatise Holloway & Leech, Employment Termination: Rights & Remedies (1985; 2d ed. 1995; Supp. 2002) and a lengthy chapter on Partners & Minority Shareholders for Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education. Mike is completing his term as AAM s President. Paul M. Lurie, is a leading construction mediator and arbitrator in Chicago and also a co-founder of AAM s Illinois chapter. He s a fellow in the International Academy of Mediators and a longtime partner in the Chicago office of the national law firm, Schiff Hardin LLP. He is also is the Chair of the Guided Choice Interest Group which has caught the attention of international mediation groups, and is being actively promoted by the American Arbitration Association and the CPR Institute (a Fortune 500/corporate ADR user organization).

6 Speakers Bios Page 2 Robert J. Matlock, JD, practices with the firm of Woods - May - Matlock in Frisco, Texas. Bob s legal career spans three decades and he now practices exclusively in the area of family law, incorporating both mediation and collaborative law. Bob is well known as a lecturer and seminar speaker on subjects including marital property law, collaborative law, mediation, arbitration, ethics and other family-law related topics. He earned his Juris Doctor at the University of Texas School of Law, and is licensed to practice law in both Texas and Missouri, with an AV rating Preeminent with Martindale-Hubbell. Bob has been a member of the Association of Attorney-Mediators since 1993, and is also a member of various mediation and collaborative law organizations, including The Collaborative Alliance, Dallas Alliance Of Collaborative Professionals, Global Collaborative Law Council, Collaborative Law Institute Of Texas, Texas Collaborative Law Council, International Academy Of Collaborative Professionals, Texas Association Of Mediators, and Ministry Of Conflict Transformation, Episcopal Diocese Of Dallas, mediation panel member. Bob may be contacted at RJMatlock@WMMLaw.com. Christopher Nolland has been a mediator and arbitrator since He has conducted over 1900 mediations and numerous arbitrations, primarily in complex business and commercial matters. Nolland's mediation and arbitration practice focuses on large, complex, multifaceted disputes. His mediation and arbitration practice is national in scope. Nolland is an Adjunct Professor of Law at SMU Law School and for the past nineteen years has taught a full semester course on Negotiation to 2 nd and 3 rd year law students and LLM candidates. Over the past 15 years Nolland has established a practice as Special Settlement Counsel, acting as the primary negotiator for one party in a non-neutral role. Nolland has been engaged as Special Settlement Counsel in over 100 significant matters, primarily business disputes. Special Settlement Counsel activities now account for over 50% of Mr. Nolland s practice. After law school, Mr. Nolland served as an appellate law clerk and thereafter practiced law in New York City with a major national firm and in New York City and Dallas, Texas as a partner with a well-known national business litigation firm. Mr. Nolland is admitted to practice in Texas and New York and numerous United States Courts of Appeal and United States District Courts, as well as the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Nolland is a member of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators; Association of Attorney Mediators; and the ADR and Litigation sections of National, State and Local Bar Associations. Mr. Nolland has been repeatedly been selected as one of the leading attorneys in Dallas and in Texas by Texas Monthly and D Magazine in their annual and bi-annual surveys and by US News and World Report in its annual selection of the Best Lawyers in America.

7 Speakers Bios Page 3 Joseph H. Paulk brings a unique range of experience successful trial lawyer, mediator, jury consultant, law school instructor, national author and lecturer to all his endeavors. As lead trial lawyer in more than 100 jury trials over 20 years, Joe represented both plaintiffs and defendants in all types of disputes. Nineteen years ago, he began to transfer this experience to the emerging field of dispute resolution. Since 1992, Joe has mediated over 3,700 cases in 24 different states, including serving as a Class Action/MDL Settlement Claims Administrator in complex insurance and medical device matters. He has been honored by his peers with a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating, selected as a SuperLawyer every year since its inception in 2006, listed in the International Who s Who Legal since 2013, and listed as Band 1 in Chambers & Partners US Law since His company, Dispute Resolution Consultants, Inc., is the preeminent mediation firm in Oklahoma and the Southwest, with 21 mediators and offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. From , Joe served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Arkansas and University of Tulsa law schools, teaching courses in mediation and negotiation. His articles have been published in law journals at both law schools, and in various national professional publications. At the urging of clients, Joe began offering advocacy consulting services in 2002 through his company Litigation Consultants, LLC. Since its formation, Litigation Consultants has been retained by attorneys and multinational corporations throughout the U.S. Joe s unique jury consulting work has helped plaintiff attorneys secure judgments and settlements of almost $80 million, and has yielded many successful defense results. Joe remains an active member of the Oklahoma Bar Association, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, the American Society of Trial Consultants, the Association of Attorney-Mediators, and various other local and national professional organizations. Edward F. Sherman: David Boies Chair, Professor of law, and former Dean, Tulane Law School (1996-present). Before coming to Tulane, he was the Clark Centennial Professor of Law at U. of Texas Law School ( ). A graduate of Harvard Law School (J.D., 1962; S.J.D., 1981), he clerked for a federal judge and practiced law in Texas ( ). He is the author of many articles and casebooks on Civil Procedure and Complex Litigation. His casebook, Processes of Dispute Resolution (with Rau & Peppet, Foundation Press 2006), is widely used in ADR courses around the country. He has been an active arbitrator and mediator since 1985 and has been on the board of the Texas and Louisiana State Bar ADR Committees. He was a coauthor of the Texas ADR Act and a founder and chair of the Texas Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution. He was awarded the American Bar Association s 2004 Robert B. McKay Law Professor Award, given annually in recognition of a law professor s commitment to the advancement of justice, scholarship and the legal profession, demonstrated through outstanding contributions to the fields of tort, trial, and insurance law.

8 Speakers Bios Page 4 Thomas J. Smith, a mediator in San Antonio, Texas, is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Attorney- Mediators and the immediate past President of the San Antonio Chapter of AAM. He has mediated or arbitrated over 2000 cases. He has been named a Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly and one of the top lawyers in San Antonio by SA Scene Magazine, and was recently named one of the top 12 attorneys in San Antonio by the San Antonio Business Journal. In 2009 he received the Community Service Award from the San Antonio Bar Foundation. He is a frequent speaker at ADR and related conferences and a strong advocate of the ADR process.