07/30/2025
Today, marks the final American Bar Association, Section of Dispute Resolution Mediation Committee where Steven Bierman and I will serve as co-chairs before our term expires at the Annual Meeting next week.
We thought it appropriate to have our last meeting be an introduction of the incoming co-chairs, Felicia Harris Hoss, FCIArb, Lisa W. Timmons, Esq., and Jeremy Vermilyea as well as to have the meeting serve as one of my favorite types of meetings we’ve held these past two years, an open forum/open mic meeting to chat and connect with the other mediation committee members.
These past two years, we have had the opportunity to have some amazing speakers at our meetings, but the most rewarding aspect of the co-chair role has been the connections and friendships that have come from the committee. The DR Section is an incredibly welcoming and rewarding community filled with impressive, inspiring, and kind colleagues who I continually learn from and are pace cars to motivate me to strive to improve and grow in my practice, my profession, and my person.
I will miss the regular planning meetings with Steve, Gabrielle Hartley (who stayed on an extra year last bar year to serve as co-chair), and Felicia (who served as vice-chair for our two years). I consider all three of these impressive professionals dear friends.
I also want to thank Doug Mintz for recommending me for the role and for Ana Sambold, Esq. and Susan Guthrie for each appointing me during their respective bar years as chair of the Section.
I would be remiss if I did not use this post to promote the 2025 Advanced Mediation & Advocacy Skills Institute, which I am honored to be Chair of the planning committee for this year. Another post with more details to follow, but for now, here is the registration link and agenda, sign-up now before early bird pricing ends: https://lnkd.in/eSKmJcVd
I will end this post how I ended many posts promoting Mediation Committee meetings (and right now, this message is more important than ever), if you aren’t already a member of the ABA and the section, now is the perfect time to join!