The Mediation Committee continues to make things happen, notwithstanding the pandemic.
Education
Our 2020 Winter Leadership Virtual Conference joint session with the International Committee, Peace Bridge or Bridge of Sighs: Cross-Border Mediation of Insolvency Related Disputes, was a successful presentation. We thank our esteemed panel — E. Patrick Shea (Gowling; Toronto), Annerose Tashiro (Schultze & Braun; Achern, Germany), Simon Thomas (Goodwin; London), Kyle Ortiz (Togut, Segal & Segal; New York), Jack Esher (CBInsolvency; Boston) and ABI President Hon. Barbara Houser (formerly of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (N.D. Tex.); Dallas) — for their hard work and insightful presentation.
Next up for our committee is a webinar on the role of the subchapter V trustee as a facilitator for successfully reorganizing subchapter V chapter 11 debtors. We will explore the facilitative skills required of a subchapter V trustee, and how those skills compare with traditional mediation skills. Please keep your eye out for more materials on this upcoming webinar.
Membership Relations
By the time this “happenings” note reaches the ABI website, our committee will have hosted ABI’s Feb. 17 Virtual Happy Hour, where we “mediated” an age-old dispute: beer vs. wine. We hope our role as host introduced the ABI community to our various ongoing activities and our many years of educational teachings, and encouraged members to join the committee and get involved.
In our last monthly conference call, we discussed the possible perception that our committee may be construed as being solely for “mediators.” This is not the case, however; our committee welcomes and encourages members who are currently active or may become active representing parties in mediation. After all, it is the role of the mediation participants or the mediation parties, and not just the mediator, that makes mediation successful. Mediation parties as participants in our committee affords us the opportunity to create new educational topics, including how a participant should present their case to the mediator, how a participant should prepare their client for the mediation process, and how a participant’s role can further develop the mediator’s ability to successfully mediate a matter.
Listserv
The Mediation Committee’s highly acclaimed “Dear Ed & Connor” weekly listserv continues each Friday with interesting mediation topics and active participation. Content suggestions are always welcome. Remember, the committee listservs are a free service to ABI members.
Newsletter
Please check out the article written by Prof. Ishana Tripathi of the Jindal Law School in New Delhi, India, in this issue of the newsletter, titled “Corporate Insolvency Mediation for an Indian Classroom.” Mediation Co-Chairs Judith Elkin and John Loughnane and Membership Relations Director Frank Monaco participated in a virtual mock mediation and lecture on the mediation of corporate insolvency-related disputes in the U.S. before Prof. Tripathi’s law class. The mock presentation hypothetical and a video of the presentation are accessible from the article.
As we do every quarter, we thank our leadership for all they do: Co-chairs Judith Elkin and John Loughnane; Communications Directors Ian Bifferato and Ed Schnitzer; Education DIrectors Judge Fitzgerald, Russ Blain and Chris Candon; Membership Directors Howard Gorney and Frank Monaco; and Newsletter Editor Mo Bauer. The success of our committee is measured by the respective time and effort volunteered by committee leadership, by you reading our material, and by many members joining our active and creative committee. Please don’t hesitate to contact any of us to explore our continued happenings and to become involved with our happening committee.
Annual Spring Meeting
ABI is pleased to announce the return of the Annual Spring Meeting from April 12-22 — this year in a cutting-edge virtual format. Employing the same innovative platform that made last fall’s Insolvency 2020 event such an astounding success, this conference — always one of the most significant annual gatherings of bankruptcy and insolvency professionals in the country — will introduce a number of new and improved online networking features.
This year, the Mediation Committee will be partnering with the Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee to host a panel titled "When Mediation Gets Messy: Ethical Dilemmas" Learn more and register at https://www.abiasm.org/.
Speakers for this panel include:
- Summer Chandler Visiting Professor of Law, Southern University Law Center Baton Rouge, LA
- Russ Blain Stichter, Riedel, Blain & Postler P.A. - Tampa, FL
- Edwards Dobbs Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs - Atlanta, GA
- Honorable Joan Feeney JAMS - Boston, MA