As we exit the pandemic to a new beginning with soon-to-be-“in-person” events, the Mediation Committee is on a mission to join in on the happenings.
Wanted: Mediation Committee Leaders
Our committee leadership team is comprised of co-chairs, two education persons, two membership persons, two communications persons and two newsletters persons. Optimally, we would like an ongoing, two-year staggered rotation to maintain continuity. Leadership is a good way to become active in ABI, learn the ropes and meet people. If interested, please contact current co-chairs Judith Elkin (jelkin@mac.com) or Louis Kornreich (lkornreich@bernsteinshur.com).
Membership Relations
In our recent monthly conference calls, we continued our discussions on building our committee membership, including attracting not just mediators, but also the mediation participants — i.e., the persons representing the parties in the mediation. Our Committee strives to improve the mediation process, but this can only be accomplished by having all parties to a mediation represented on our committee. Mediation parties may view the mediation process differently from the mediator. It takes all parties to a mediation to achieve a successful result. Having mediation parties as participants on 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 mediators’ ability to successfully mediate a matter. In addition, mediation parties can provide insightful nuances that may help us develop or make suggestions to mediators.
Education
Although summer is just beginning, it is never too early to prepare for the Winter Leadership Conference. In December, we hope to be presenting a program titled “Prepping for Success: The Keys to Maximizing the Mediation Process.” Stay tuned for future updates as to date, time and the presenting panel.
We are also working on a webinar on the role of subchapter V trustees as facilitators for successfully reorganizing subchapter V chapter 11 debtors. We will explore the facilitative skills required of subchapter V trustees and how those skills compare with traditional mediation skills. Please keep your eye out for more information on this upcoming webinar.
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. Recent topics have included the following: (1) Are in-person mediations with all parties and counsel a thing of the past?; (2) Should the settlement agreement be drafted before the parties leave the mediation?; and (3) What do you do when a party walks out of the mediation, possibly in bad faith? Remember, committee listservs are free to all ABI members.
Newsletter
Please check out this issue’s newsletter article provided by Lou Kornreich, David Mawhinney and Don Swanson, “Observations on the Survey of Facilitation by Subchapter V Trustees.” The article explores the role of the subchapter V trustee as a facilitator or quasi-mediator to assist the parties in achieving a consensual plan of reorganization. The article contains survey results relating to the role of the subchapter V trustee and comments from practitioner. Special thanks to John Loughnane for helping with the poll design, launching it for survey responses and tabulating the answers — especially the big push across the finish line.
If you missed it, we also suggest that you revisit our February newsletter article provided by Prof. Ishana Tripathi of the Jindal Law School in New Delhi, India, titled “Corporate Insolvency Mediation for an Indian Classroom,” which provides 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: Co-chairs Judith Elkin and Louis Kornreich; Communications Managers (listserv) Ian Bifferato and Russ Blain; Education Directors Judge Judith Fitzgerald, Ed Schnitzer and Chris Candon; Membership Relations Director Frank Monaco; Special Projects Leader Don Swanson; and Newsletter Editor yours truly, Mo Bauer. The success of our committee is due to their respective voluntary time and effort, and to your reading our material and joining our active and creative committee. Please don’t hesitate to contact any of us to explore our continued happenings and finding ways to become involved with our happening committee.