ABA Section of Dispute Resolution

Ready to grow your ADR practice without leaving your desk? The virtual 2027 Practice Development Institute brings together the tools, strategies, and business insights you need to stand out in a dynamic market. Join us online February 11-12, 2027. 🔗 ambar.org/pdi2027

⏰ Registration closes TOMORROW, Friday, October 16! Join us for the 23rd Annual Advanced Mediation & Advocacy Skills Institute, a two-day virtual program on October 21-22, 2026. Hear a keynote conversation with former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, plus sessions on breaking impasse, cross-border commercial disputes, AI in mediation, and mediator ethics. Can't attend live? Programming will be recorded and shared with all registrants! Don’t miss your chance to learn from leading experts and connect with colleagues nationwide. Secure your spot today. 🔗 ambar.org/med2026

We are thrilled to support the 2026 California ADR Forum, held November 6, 2026, in San Francisco! Join the Litigation Section of the California Lawyers Association for a day of practical insights, fresh perspectives, and meaningful discussion with leading practitioners, neutrals, and thought leaders. The program will explore the issues shaping ADR practice today, including strategies for resolving complex disputes, navigating ethical challenges, the evolving world of mass arbitration, leveraging emerging AI technologies, and using professionalism and civility to achieve better outcomes. ABA Section of Dispute Resolution members can register at the CLA Litigation Section member rate of $95 using code ADR26SPON at checkout. Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/gaAYTsYB

Ready to grow your ADR practice without leaving your desk? The virtual 2027 Practice Development Institute brings together the tools, strategies, and business insights you need to stand out in a dynamic market. Join us online February 11-12, 2027. 🔗 ambar.org/pdi2027

Registration closes in one week! The 23rd Annual Advanced Mediation & Advocacy Skills Institute is coming October 21–22, 2026 — two days, all virtual, and packed with great conversation. Hear a keynote from former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and dig into sessions on breaking impasse, cross-border commercial disputes, AI in mediation, and mediator ethics. Registration closes Friday, October 16, so grab your spot soon. 🔗 ambar.org/med2026

Today is Ombuds Day! ⚖️ Each year on the second Thursday of October, we recognize the ombuds profession and raise awareness of the important role ombuds play in helping individuals and organizations navigate conflict. Ombuds are confidential, impartial, and independent conflict management professionals who help people explore options, address concerns informally, and identify paths forward. They can also provide organizations with valuable insight into systemic issues and opportunities for positive change. Curious to learn more? Join the ABA Dispute Resolution Section’s Ombuds Day program today, October 8, at noon ET, and explore the role and value of ombuds in dispute resolution. 🔗 Register: https://lnkd.in/g5599U92

What can mediators and ombuds professionals learn from one another? Join us tomorrow, October 8, at 12 PM ET as ombuds professionals and ABA Dispute Resolution Section leaders explore the shared values, philosophies, and interest-based approaches that mediators and ombuds professionals. Together, we’ll explore how confidentiality, fairness, self-determination, and thoughtful communication can help practitioners navigate conflict and support people through complex challenges. 🔗 Register today: https://lnkd.in/g5599U92

In this episode of Resolutions, host Alex Green IV talks with Harvard Law lecturer and mediator David Hoffman about his book The Art of Impasse Breaking in Mediation. They discuss process versus substantive interventions, the underused tools of caucusing and lawyer-only joint sessions, the role of apology and relationship repair, the benefits of Zoom mediation, and weighing the most likely outcome if a case goes to court. Listen to the episode: https://lnkd.in/g3DS_v6Q  Get your copy: https://lnkd.in/gYGrQeRS

What can mediators learn from ombuds, and what can ombuds learn from mediators? Join us for Ombuds Day 2026: Where Mediation Meets the Ombuds World to explore how these two fields approach conflict, confidentiality, fairness and self-determination. Come away with new perspectives and practical insights you can bring to your own work October 8 | Noon ET | Virtual Register here: https://lnkd.in/di-_NTki #OmbudsDay #Mediation #DisputeResolution #AmericanBarAssociation American Bar Association

What a way to start. Today we welcomed the 2026–2027 cohort of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Practice Incubator, and I am thrilled to share that we filled all 40 available spaces in this year’s program. That is twice the number of participants we were able to accommodate last year, and the energy on today’s Welcome & Orientation made it very clear why this program continues to grow. The Practice Incubator is about much more than learning how to build a practice. Over the coming months, these lawyers, mediators, arbitrators, and dispute resolution professionals will be working together to build practices that are more intentional, sustainable, and aligned with the work they want to do. Just as important, they will be doing it in community, with the support, accountability, and shared experience that can make all the difference. A very special thank you to Doug Mintz , Chair of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, and Jennifer LaChance Michel, Section Director, for joining us today to welcome the cohort and kick off the year. And I am so grateful to my fellow program leaders, Charles McDaniel, Jr. and Melinda Feldman , and to our terrific facilitators for the time, experience, and commitment they bring to this program. Thank you: Allison McFadden, Timothy Alger, Kimberly Best, RN, MA, Molly Thomas, Richard Morefield, Leticia Fehn, MDR, Daniel Serviansky, John Libby a d Sarah Fischer. Most of all, thank you to our participants. Your enthusiasm today was contagious, and I cannot wait to see what you build over the next nine months. Year three of the Practice Incubator is officially underway. And judging by the room today, it is going to be a very good one.