Committee on Membership
The mission of the
Membership Committee is to encourage members of the dispute resolution
community – users, providers, scholars and students – as
well as members of the Bar who wish to increase or enhance the use of
ADR in their practices, to join our Dispute Resolution
Section. Membership in the Section
helps promote, develop and refine the practices and profession of
dispute resolution in New York State and around the country. It offers a
forum for reflective discussion of dispute resolution themes, processes
and practices; presents opportunities for the enhancement of skills in
mediation, negotiation, arbitration – for representatives and
neutrals alike; and promotes consideration of ethical issues and
legislative initiatives pertinent to this field.
The Committee seeks broad
diversity of members to our Section to benefit from the input and
representation from as many practices and viewpoints as possible as the
dispute resolution field develops, and to serve the needs of
practitioners in all areas. The
Membership Committee encourages active participation of Section members
in the work of the various committees of the Section, both for the
professional development it offers participating members and for the
benefits provided by those committees to the dispute resolution
profession, users, the public and the Bar.
The Membership Committee, co
chaired by Geraldine R. Brown and Glen Parker, has accomplished a great
deal in the last 2 years. It has increased our membership from
approximately 50 original members of the section in June, 2008 to almost
3,000 today. The Membership Committee developed our section
brochure, posters, recruitment literature, postcards and law student
literature. The committee established liaisons with various
organizations, ADR and professional organizations and Bar Associations,
and co-sponsored events and trainings with these
organizations.
The Committee continues to work on increasing member benefits. The
Section already offers many benefits including CLE programs on ADR and
networking opportunities, a subscription to the New
York Dispute Resolution Lawyer publication, a subscription to the
Section newsletter, the opportunity to meet with others in the ADR field
at committee meetings to discuss and learn from others about issues and
techniques in ADR, a mediation mentoring program for our members
developed with the Diversity and Mediation Committees, reduced charges
for DR Section programming and liaisons with diverse Bar Associations
with whom we are working in conjunction with the Diversity Committee to
develop joint programs. The Committee is also investigating how to
provide low rate group malpractice insurance for mediators.
As our young members are critical to the Section’s growth and
to the utilization of ADR, the Committee has been actively reaching out
to the law schools and recent graduates. The Committee contacts all of
the law school professors that teach ADR in New York area schools at the
beginning of each academic year asking them to post and hand out
specially developed literature and special offers focusing on law
students. The Committee has utilized law students to write case notes
for the Section’s publication and had them serve as
“reporters” for our annual meeting programs providing
students with free entry to the program and an opportunity to report on
the program in an article. Section members have attended many law school
events in which students learn about different areas of law and what
career paths they may pursue to discuss ADR with them. The Membership
Committee plans to continue and expand on these initiatives. Please join
to help continue to increase our membership; which, in turn, supports
and encourages the acceptance and usage of dispute resolution processes
in New York.
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Dispute Resolution Committees
