Mediator Resume

Experienced commercial mediator with considerable success in independent and court-assigned mediations addressing multiparty, multi-issue disputes.

Business Conflict Management LLC - Principal New York Law School - Distinguished Adjunct Professor, Director of Alternative Dispute Resolution Skills Program

Attorney, Arbitrator, Mediator, Educator, Trainer

Distinguished Adjunct Professor and Director of ADR Skills Program, New York Law School, 2009-Present; Principal, Business Conflict Management LLC, 2008-Present; Senior Vice President, CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, 1998-2008; Associate, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, 1993-1998; Associate, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, 1987-1993; Professional Actor and Stage Director, 1971-1987.

Created and managed the Alternative Dispute Resolution Skills Program at New York Law School since 2014; responsible for teaching, student competition coaching, administration and monthly programs of CLE events. Senior Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Interim President of CPR Institute; responsible for creation of substantive user-directed protocols in managing dispute in such areas as franchise, employment, cedent/reinsurer, and others. Litigation associate at major New York firms for 11 years. Prolific author and speaker.

Served as mediator in several hundred cases since 2008, both by independent engagement and by assignment through courts and various provider organizations. Several mediations involving international parties, including parties from China and Lithuania. Often engaged to mediate claims sounding in employment and franchise. Experience in multiparty and multi-issue mediations.

Claims of employment discrimination under federal, New York, New Jersey, and New York City law. Franchise claims regarding sufficiency and accuracy of offering documentation and claims involving termination of franchise on a variety of bases. Disputes arising from dissolution of partnerships and close corporations, including those with cross-border principals. Commercial claims arising from transactions.

I am skilled in coaching parties in conflict to develop an informed and nuanced understanding of the legitimate interests of themselves and their counterparties, and to develop courses of action that may yield results that are more commercially rational than persisting in formal litigation. In addition to information gathering and “reality testing,” I assist parties and counsel to develop more sophisticated methods of assessing the value of claims than mere instinct would provide. I encourage commercial (as distinguished from legal) analysis of alternative courses of action and proposals for resolution. I inquire about the costs of litigation, both monetary and in terms of business distraction, reputation, relationship with customers and vendors, and risk. As the mediation develops, I frequently become less facilitative and more directive in my communications with the parties. In the event of the threat of impasse, I refrain from offering my own opinion of the “right” outcome, but instead seek to ensure that all parties and their advisors are satisfied that, before the process is closed, every alternative has been explored, and every consequence of the dispute’s continuing has been considered.

Regularly conduct mediations online using Zoom platform. Proficient in Word, Excel. Successfully completed Clearbrief Academy, May 2025.

New York Law School (JD, magna cum laude - 1987); Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Three-Year Diploma in Acting -1975); Dartmouth College (AB, English, cum laude - 1971).

Admitted to the Bar: New York (1987), New Jersey (1995), California (1992/inactive); U.S. District Court: Southern and Eastern Districts of New York (1987); U.S. Supreme Court (1993).

American Bar Association (Business Law Section, past Chair of Dispute Resolution Committee; Dispute Resolution Section, past chair of Employment Committee and past member of Council); Union International des Avocats Executive Advisory Committee, World Forum of Mediation Centers; Justice Marie L. Garibaldi American Inns of Court for Alternative Dispute Resolution; New York State Bar Association; New Jersey State Bar; California Bar Association (Inactive).

FILMS: Writer of “Representing Clients in Mediation” (forthcoming 2025). Writer and Co-Director of four CEDR-award-winning films on Corporate/Community Dialogue (2012). BOOKS: Chapter Author, "Mediating in the Time of Covid," in MEDIATION IN SINGAPORE: A PRACTICAL GUIDE, Danny McFadden & George Lim, eds. (2021); Editor and Chapter Author, ADR DESKBOOK FOR THE BUSINESS LAWYER (ABA 2016); Contributor, ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN PRACTICE (Insurance Institute of London 2011); MEDIATION TECHNIQUES (IBA 2010); Chapter Author, "International Mediation," in ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PRACTICE GUIDES (Wolf et al. eds, West 2021); Chapter Author, "Conflict Resolution and Spiritual Congruity," in TRANSFORMING JUSTICE (2017) (Marjorie Silver, ed.); Editor and Chapter Author, MANAGING FRANCHISE RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH MEDIATION, CPR Institute, 2009. ARTICLES: "Icebergs, Disputants and the Limitations of Mediators," N.Y. DISPUTE RES. LAWYER Vol. 16 No 1 (2023); "Pass the Salt: Problem-Resolution Lawyering," 23 PEPPERDINE J. DISP. RES. 1 (2023) (w/ Kris Franklin); “Ancient and Comely Order: The Use and Dispute of Arbitration by New York Quakers,” 2016 J. DISPUTE RESOL. 81 (2016); “There is a World Elsewhere: Preliminary Studies on Alternatives to Interest-based Bargaining,” 13 CARDOZO J. CONFLICT RESOL. 413 (2012). SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS: “ Improving Client Representation in Mediation: What is the Role of the Global Legal Community?” UIA Forum of Mediation Centers, Union International des Avocats World Mediation Forum, Vienna, 2025; "Ethics for Mediators," UIA Forum of Mediation Centers, Malaga 2022; “Singapore Convention,” ICC Paris February 2019; “Ethics for Negotiators,” NYSBA 2018; “Asian and Western Perspectives on Mediation,” Singapore 2017; “Interfaith Efforts at Peacemaking,,” ABA 2017.

Within 30 miles of New York City

Hourly Rate: $450.00 Daily Rate: Not provided Study Rate: $450.00/hr Cancellation: $1,000.00/Day Cancellation Period: 5 Days Comment: Travel time not charged, but reimbursement for costs actually and reasonably incurred.

English

United States of America

New York, New York