Menu
Log in
Log in
  • Home
  • 2017 Presenter Bios


 

CONFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

 

HONOREES





Danielle Sered, Director of Common Justice


Danielle Sered envisioned, launched, and directs Common Justice. She leads the project’s efforts, locally rooted in Brooklyn but national in scope, to develop and advance practical and groundbreaking solutions to violence that advance racial equity, meet the needs of those harmed, and do not rely on incarceration. Before planning the launch of Common Justice, Danielle served as the deputy director of Vera’s Adolescent Reentry Initiative, a program for young men returning from incarceration on Rikers Island. Prior to joining Vera, she worked at the Center for Court Innovation's Harlem Community Justice Center, where she led its programs for court-involved and recently incarcerated youth. Danielle has designed and directed programs that teach conflict resolution through the arts in schools and juvenile detention centers, has had extensive involvement in gang intervention work, has developed and implemented violence intervention and trauma-informed care practices and curricula, and has experience with a variety of mediation, restorative justice, and conflict resolution techniques. Danielle sits on the Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims, the Advisory Council to the New York State Office of Victims Services, the Diversity Advisory Committee to the federal Office for Victims of Crime, the New York State Governor’s Council on Reentry and Community Reintegration, and the Advisory Board to the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. She co-facilitates the monthly Executives Undoing Racism group with the Anti-Racist Alliance in New York. She has presented at dozens of conferences nationally, including the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Bipartisan Summit on Criminal Justice Reform, and is the author of The Other Side of Harm: Addressing Disparities in our Responses to Violence. She teaches about restorative justice at the CUNY Silberman School of Social Work. Danielle received the 67th Precinct Council Award for Service, given in recognition for leadership in reducing violence in Brooklyn, and the Brown Memorial Baptist Church Extraordinary Woman Award. Under her leadership, Common Justice received the Award for Innovation in Victim Services from Attorney General Holder and the federal Office for Victims of Crime in 2012. A Stoneleigh fellow, Danielle received her BA from Emory University and her masters degrees from New York University and Oxford University (UK), where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar.






James H. Carter


James Carter is a senior counsel in the New York office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP. Mr. Carter has more than 40 years of experience as arbitrator or counsel in more than 150 international commercial and investment arbitration cases.


Mr. Carter has represented European, US, Asian and other companies in arbitrations under leading institutional rules and in ad hoc arbitrations in all leading international seats. He has particular experience in joint venture, investor-state disputes, mergers and acquisitions, investment banking and other financial services, project finance, licensing, insurance and energy, as well as international sports law disputes. In addition, Mr. Carter has extensive experience as counsel in US litigation involving commercial, corporate, antitrust, securities and intellectual property matters. Prior to joining WilmerHale, Mr. Carter was co-chair of the international arbitration

and cross-border dispute resolution group at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. He was also co-chair of international arbitration, a position he held for more than 20 years, at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.


Mr. Carter is a frequent guest speaker and the author of more than 50 articles and book chapters dealing with international disputes. He is the co-founder of the International Arbitration Club of New York and is a co-editor of International Commercial Arbitration in New York (2010) and the editor of The International Arbitration Review (4th ed. 2013).


Mr. Carter is chair of the Board of Directors of the New York International Arbitration Center. He is a former chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Arbitration Association, a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland and a former member of the London Court of International Arbitration, for which he also served as vice president of its North American Council. He is an advisor to the American Law Institute's reporters drafting the Restatement of the US Law of International Commercial Arbitration and is a former president of the American Society of International Law. In addition, Mr. Carter has chaired the American Bar Association's Section of International Law, as well as its Committee on International Commercial Arbitration, and served as the ABA's representative to the United Nations. He is a former chairman of the New York State Bar Association Committee on International Dispute Resolution and the International Affairs Council of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Mr. Carter also chaired the International Law Committee of the New York State Bar Association.


Some of Mr. Carter's honors and awards include: 

▪ Selected by peers for inclusion in the 2013-2017 editions of the Best Lawyers in America. In the 2014 and 2017 editions, he was named New York City's Arbitration "Lawyer of the Year."

▪ Recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business since 2003 as a leading individual for his nationwide international arbitration practice and named as a leading international arbitrator in 2009 through

2016. In the 2013-2016 editions, he is the only lawyer to be named a "Senior Statesman" 

▪ Listed in Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business as a leader in international arbitration every year since 2000. 

▪ Recommended by The Legal 500 US in the field of international arbitration

▪ Recognized in the 2006-2016 editions of New York Metro Super Lawyers






SPECIAL GUESTS




Kenneth R. Feinberg 


For over 30 years, Kenneth R. Feinberg has been involved in resolving some of the nation’s most protracted, complex, and emotional disputes involving a wide range of interests and clients.  Mr. Feinberg is publicly recognized as redefining the practice of law, bringing opposing sides of legal disputes together. He is one of the nation’s foremost mediators, arbitrators, and experts in other forms of alternative dispute resolution and negotiation strategy. From cases that affect only a few, to the largest, most complex disputes of our time, the Firm consistently bridges the gap between parties by creating imaginative and satisfying solutions.  Mr. Feinberg is consistently retained by Fortune 500 companies, nationally recognized plaintiff counsel, insurers, government agencies, and state and federal courts to design, implement, and administer innovative and sophisticated settlement solutions. Serving either as a neutral or as settlement counsel to one of the parties, Mr. Feinberg provides services for all stages of dispute resolution: helping the parties achieve a comprehensive resolution of the dispute, devising strategies for a cost-effective settlement, designing systems and criteria to implement settlement terms, and developing distribution plans to achieve maximum benefits for all parties. 




 


Brian Lehrer


Brian Lehrer is host of The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC Radio's daily call-in program, covering politics and life, locally and globally. The show airs weekdays from 10am-noon on WNYC 93.9 FM, AM 820 and wnyc.org.

The Brian Lehrer Show was recognized with a 2007 George Foster Peabody Award for "Radio That Builds Community Rather Than Divides."

 

The New York Times called Lehrer a "master interviewer." Time magazine called the program "New York City's most thoughtful and informative talk show." The Daily News calls it "cutting edge" for its extreme interactivity and creative use of the internet. Guests range from politicians such as Barack Obama, Chris Christie, Michael Bloomberg, John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Cory Booker, to cultural figures such as Werner Herzog, Penn Jillette, David Lynch, DJ Spooky and Margaret Atwood, to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, to New York City middle school students.

 

Lehrer is also a commentator on local and national issues on television and in print. He has appeared on TV networks including CNN, MSNBC, Fox Newschannel, C-SPAN, ABC World News Now, and NY1. He has written op-ed pieces for publications including The New York Times, The Daily News, Newsday, The New York Sun and Slate.com. He also hosts a weekly television program on CUNY-TV, "BrianLehrer.tv" featuring issue-oriented web video.

 

In addition to the Peabody, Lehrer has won numerous awards, including seven Associated Press New York Broadcasters "Best Interview" Awards since 2000 and “Best Talk Show” by the Garden State Journalists Association in 2009 and 2011.

 

Lehrer was a questioner in the 2006 televised campaign debates for U.S. Senate and Governor of New York, and in the televised New York City Mayoral Debates in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013.

 

He has hosted his eponymous program, originally called On The Line, since its inception in 1989. Prior, he was an anchor and reporter for the NBC Radio Networks, and an award-winning author and documentary producer.

 

Lehrer holds master's degrees in public health from Columbia University and journalism from Ohio State University and a bachelor's in music and mass communications from the State University of New York at Albany.



PRESENTERS


Guy Alvarez is the Founder and CEO of Good2BSocial.  Over his 25-year career, Guy has defied the trend to narrow specialization by acquiring deep expertise spanning the fields of technology, marketing and business development.  This has enabled him to emerge as a leading consultant in the application of digital marketing technologies. Guy’s career has given him intimate familiarity with all aspects of the professional service firm – from the inside and out.  Trained as a lawyer, he was quick to realize the revolutionary power of technology on legal practice, and built one of the first law firm web sites for his own firm. From there he made a business building law firm web sites for ALM Media, a leading legal publisher, counting America’s largest law firms among his clients.  Guy further honed his skills as global director of digital marketing for KPMG where he also acquired expertise in the field of Knowledge Management. With a background in technology and marketing, Guy emerged as early adopter and advocate of digital marketing.  He has advised Fortune 100 companies and AmLaw 100 law firms on all aspects of digital marketing including social media, SEO, content marketing, paid search advertising, digital strategy and the development of thought leadership digital platforms.



Rochelle Arms is a PhD candidate at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in George Mason University, focusing on the use of reflective practice as a learning method for conflict resolution practitioners. Prior to this, she served as the Restorative Justice Coordinator of the New York Peace Institute where she managed mediation and restorative justice initiatives with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Juvenile Justice Courts, schools, and community agencies in Brooklyn and Manhattan. She has trained or coached hundreds of individuals in communication skills, mediation and other facilitative interventions. For 17 years, she has worked in the U.S. and abroad in collaborative processes and restorative justice projects, with a variety of groups, including civil society organizations in India, indigenous peoples in Argentina, immigrants and refugees, and homicide offenders and victim survivors in Kentucky. Rochelle has a B.A. in Religion and Peace Studies from Swarthmore College, and an M.A. in International Relations through a Rotary Peace Fellowship at Universidad del Salvador in Argentina. Throughout her doctorate, she would like to connect with existing mediator reflective practice groups. If you belong to one, or know of one, please be in touch with her through: rarms@gmu.edu.



Simeon H. Baum, President of Resolve Mediation Services, Inc., has successfully mediated over 1,000 disputes.  He has been active since 1992 as a neutral in dispute resolution, assuming the roles of mediator, neutral evaluator and arbitrator in a variety of cases. He was selected for New York Magazine’s 2005 - 2014 “Best Lawyers” and “New York Super Lawyers” listings for ADR, and Best Lawyers’ “Lawyer of the Year” for ADR in New York for 2011 and 2014, and for the International Who’s Who of Commercial Mediation Lawyers 2012-14. An attorney, with 30 years’ experience as a litigator, Mr. Baum has served as a mediator or ADR neutral in a wide variety of matters involving claims concerning business disputes, financial services, securities industry disputes, reinsurance and insurance coverage, property damage and personal injury, malpractice, employment, unfair competition, fraud, bank fraud, bankruptcy, intellectual property, and commercial claims. Mr. Baum has shared his enthusiasm for ADR through teaching, training, extensive writing and public speaking.  He has taught ADR at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Development, and he teaches Negotiation, and Processes of Dispute Resolution (focusing on Negotiation, Mediation and Arbitration) at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He has been a panelist, presenter and facilitator for numerous programs on mediation, arbitration, and ADR for Judges, attorneys, and other professionals.  Mr. Baum is a graduate of Colgate University and the Fordham University School of Law.



Jasmin S. Brandow, Co-Founder of HumanKind Workshop, is a facilitator and trainer committed to empowering people through intentional conversations about identity, awareness, and impact. From 2007-2012, she worked with the NYS Office of Court Administration, including the Offices of Workforce Diversity, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Court Improvement Programs. In 2015, Jasmin and Rebecca Koch co-founded HumanKind Workshop to develop and share learning experiences that bring people together. Jasmin has a B.A. in Sociology from the University at Albany, SUNY and an M.A. in Political Science from the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs.





Karen Campbell is Corporate Ombudsperson at American Express and an American Express employee for 26 years. Prior to joining the Ombudspersons Office in 2005, Karen served as VP&GM Consumer Travel & Foreign Exchange Services based in the United Kingdom. Karen was promoted to Corporate Ombudsperson and relocated to NY in 2014. The Office of the Ombudspersons provides employees, contractors and vendors worldwide with an independent, confidential and off the record resource to discuss work related issues without fear of retribution. Karen is a member of the International Ombudsman Association and is a Certified Organisational Practitioner (CO-OP). She is also a Certified Mediator from the Regent's School of Psychotherapy & Psychology in London.




 

Aldo Civico has served as a facilitator and conflict resolution practitioner in armed conflicts in Colombia, the Western Balkans, and the Middle East. Since 2001, Aldo has been intimately involved in the peace talks between the Colombian government and the guerrilla. In 2000, after serving as a senior advisor to Palermo’s anti-mafia mayor, Leoluca Orlando, Aldo moved to New York where he joined the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia University. In 2007, he was named the director of the Center and continues to lecture at Columbia in advanced courses in conflict resolution. He is a founding partner of The Civico Group, which creates customized training programs to strengthen leadership capabilities and build cohesive teams within private- and public-sector entities. Its clients include public companies, large family-owned businesses, and social enterprises. Aldo is an author of four books, including his most recent The Para-State: An Ethnography of Colombia’s Death Squads (University of California Press, 2015). He writes for Psychology Today and for The Huffington Post, and is the editor of a content hub on social and personal change at www.aldocivico.com. Aldo received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in social-cultural anthropology in 2008. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Association for Conflict Resolution Greater New York Chapter and of Abigail Disney’s Peace is Loud foundation. He is an associate fellow of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Complexity and Conflict at Columbia University where he coordinates a program on Youth Peace and Security.



Theodore Cheng is an arbitrator and mediator with the AAA, the CPR Institute, Resolute Systems, and several federal and state courts, principally focusing on intellectual property, entertainment, technology, and labor/employment disputes. Mr. Cheng serves on the Council of the AAA and the Boards of the Justice Marie L. Garibaldi American Inn of Court for ADR, the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Dispute Resolute Section, and the Association for Conflict Resolution Greater New York Chapter. He is also the Co-Chair of the Mediation Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section (and the Section’s Vice-Chair beginning in June 2017). For the past 20 years, Mr. Cheng has also maintained an intellectual property and general commercial litigation practice with a focus on trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets, counseling high net-worth individuals and small to middle-market business entities in industries as varied as high-tech, telecommunications, entertainment, consumer products, fashion, food and hospitality, retail, and financial services.



Justin R. Corbett is the Chief Project Officer for Advancing Dispute Resolution, a creative consultancy and research organization dedicated to moving the dispute resolution field further, faster. Justin's current projects include managing a $2 million public awareness campaign promoting dispute resolution services, and researching the intersection of ADR and the criminal justice system. He has consulted for the NYC Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice and the Indiana Supreme Court, and has served as the Executive Director of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), the National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM), and a local community mediation organization. Justin digs data and technology with wonkish abandon, and lives in Arizona with his all things conspirator, Wendy, and their best of, X.



Stephen Dickerson received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Binghamton University, State University of New York, and his Masters in Social Work Management from the University at Albany, State University of New York. Stephen has been in city government for over 27 years and has held a variety of positions, e.g., Director of Contract Management with the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, Deputy and Director of HRA’s Waverly and Greenwood Job Centers, Procedure Writer with the Office of Procedures, and Recruitment Officer with the Office of Staff Resources and Special Assistant to the Assistant Deputy Commissioner/ Division of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Services. Mr. Dickerson also serves as an adjunct assistant professor with Columbia University’s School of Social Work as a Field Instructor.









Kay Feeney was admitted to the legal profession in 1985 and is a highly regarded member of the family law community. Kay is an Accredited Family Law Specialist, a Nationally Accredited Mediator and has been engaged in Collaborative Practice since her first training in 2006 and is currently president of Queensland Association of Collaborative Practitioners. She applies a lateral thinking capacity to disputes often considered intractable by others and has a good record for coming up with solutions acceptable to both parties. She has the communication skills of a trained teacher, and won’t be outsmarted or intimidated by anyone.



Genesis Fisher is the founder of Fisher Law Practice, P.C., which provides mediation, one-on-one conflict coaching, and conflict resolution training. Her innovative Organization Partnership program provides onsite conflict resolution support for businesses, helping them retain talented employees and side-step costly litigation. FLP also offers boutique criminal defense for those seeking experience and discretion. Genesis is an adjunct professor at New York Law School. She graduated from Smith College and New York University School of Law. After law school, she worked at the Southern Poverty Law Center before returning to NYC to become a public defender. Genesis spends her free time making industrial furniture and competing as a powerlifter.



Tracey B. Frisch is Senior Counsel at the American Arbitration Association, Inc.'s legal Department.  In that role she manages a variety of legal matters that impact the Association.  Tracey is also an adjunct Professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, teaching mediation to law students at Manhattan Small Claims Court, and a member of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Pro Bono Mediation Panel.  











Jennifer Geller is a Conflict Resolution Specialist. As an Americorps member, she is currently working in a public school in Yonkers, providing conflict coaching and mediation services. Ms. Geller earned her JD from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and her MS from Columbia University in the City of New York.










Meredith Gray is the Restorative Justice Coordinator for Criminal Court Mediation at New York Peace Institute (NYPI). Her Restorative Justice skills and experience are especially enriched by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, the Creative Interventions Toolkit, The Revolution Starts at Home, Baltimore's Community Conferencing Center, Kay Pranis, and the New York Peace Institute. In addition to her work with NYPI, Meredith is an educator focusing on the intersections of identity, spirituality, and anti-oppression practices.














Peter A. Halprin is an attorney in Anderson Kill's New York office. Mr. Halprin's practice concentrates in commercial litigation and insurance recovery, exclusively on behalf of policyholders. Mr. Halprin also acts as counsel for U.S. and foreign companies in domestic and international arbitrations (including London and Bermuda Form arbitrations). Mr. Halprin is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and received a Postgraduate Distance Learning Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration from the Queen Mary School of Law, University of London. Mr. Halprin successfully completed the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre’s (HKIAC) Tribunal Secretary Accreditation Programme, and is on the Tribunal Secretaries Panel for the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA). Mr. Halprin is an Adjunct Professor of Law and Coach of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Team. Mr. Halprin is Deputy Co-Chair of the Cyber Insurance Recovery Practice Group, as well as a member of Anderson Kill's Financial Services Industry Group. Since 2013, Mr. Halprin has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a New York Metro Rising Star for Insurance Coverage.



Jennifer Hetherington
 has practised family law for over 20 years. She is an Accredited Family Law Specialist, Nationally Accredited Mediator and experienced Collaborative Lawyer. Jennifer has been a committee member of Queensland Association for Collaborative Practitioners for several years and a Practice Group leader. She has sat on numerous committees of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and is currently a member of several committees of the Australian Association of Collaborative Professionals. Jennifer is first and foremost a strategist, working with clients to develop a pathway to achieve the goals they aspire to for their future, whilst minimising conflict. She firmly believes we should not assume clients present with a conflict to be resolved, but rather, an agreement yet to be reached. Jennifer is a regular CPE presenter for the Queensland Law Society and favours experiential learning.





Dina R. Jansenson, Esq., JAMS, has over twenty-five years of experience mediating and arbitrating a wide variety of matters including complex business/commercial, employment, construction, franchise, professional liability, and intellectual property disputes with domestic and international parties. She brings a broad base of substantive knowledge, as well as a deep understanding of the litigation challenges facing parties in the event of impasse, to help parties analyze their complex legal and business issues, engage in risk assessment, and develop creative business solutions. As an arbitrator, Ms. Jansenson is known for her ability to effectively manage the process, and for her reasoned awards. Ms. Jansenson is an elected (past) fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Recognized as an expert in the field of alternative dispute resolution, she is a frequent speaker for corporations, universities, and organizations in the United States and abroad. Ms. Jansenson speaks fluent Spanish and Hebrew, and has conducted mediations in these languages on request.



Tricia S. Jones is a Professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, past President of the Temple University Faculty Senate, and recently served as Vice-President and Member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Conflict Management. Dr. Jones has authored 8 books, over 75 articles and chapters, and has given more than 250 presentations at national and international conferences.Her research and teaching focuses on communication, conflict and change processes. In addition to teaching, Dr. Jones has focused her conflict consulting work on training and intervention programs for government agencies, higher education, health care and state offices of dispute resolution, including training conflict coaches for numerous federal agencies in DC. She is also currently heading the research on Conflict Coaching Efficacy in New York State Community Dispute Resolution Centers (CDRCs)—a statewide project infusing conflict coaching into the 62-county CDRC network overseen by NYUCS—and co-chaired the Peace Education and Conflict Resolution Education work group of the United Nations.



Vikram Kapoor is the FEMA Ombuds for Full-Time Employees, and has also served as a facilitator, mediator, trainer and coach.  He is an adjunct professor of ADR at Howard University School of Law, President of Extra-M Coaching, and a member of the governing council of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, where he co-chairs the Practice Management and Skills Development Committee.  Vik was previously a plaintiff’s side class action litigator in private practice, and before that he was a court mediator.  He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.A. from UCLA. 



Mark Kleiman, began his career as an attorney in Family Court for the Juvenile 
Rights Division of The Legal Aid Society. Recognizing the system as inadequate to
deal with family issues, he founded and has been executive director of Community
Mediation Services, Inc. in New York City since 1983. Since then he has developed
court diversion programs across the city in the areas of juvenile justice, community
and family mediation, education, child welfare, youth development and
homelessness. Programs include: the Court-funded community mediation program
for Queens, a Fatherhood Program, Homelessness Prevention Program, a
Restorative Justice Program for Delinquents as well as the first New York City-wide
Family Court Custody Mediation Program. 
Mark was a founding member of both
the New York City and New York State divorce mediation councils, a former board member of the New York
State Dispute Resolution Association (NYSDRA) and former board member of The National Association for
Community Mediation (NAFCM). As a founding member of Mediators Beyond Borders, he has established a
partnership between CMS and Mosaica, the community mediation program in Jerusalem as part of MBB’s
Israel Project. An Office of Court Administration certified trainer, he co-authored the court’s first custody/
visitation mediation curriculum. He also co-wrote a conflict resolution curriculum for Americorps volunteers
for NAFCM. Mr. Kleiman has created the Values-Centered Mediation model, an approach to mediation, and
has trained over 750 mediators in this model.
 He is the 2011 winner of NYSDRA’s Lawrence Cooke award for
Innovation in Mediation and the 2013 Association for Conflict Resolution’s John M. Haynes Distinguished
Mediator Award.


Rebecca Koch, Co-Founder of HumanKind Workshop, facilitates dialogues with people interested in strengthening self-awareness and exploring how our identities, biases, and lived experiences affect the ways we engage with each other. Rebecca also leads the New York State Dispute Resolution Association’s advocacy efforts to position the Community Dispute Resolution Centers as a prominent and highly valued conflict resolution resource for the State. Rebecca’s work is informed by her earlier education and experience as an AmeriCorps VISTA and social work student supporting young people and their families and co-facilitating intergroup peer dialogues on race, gender, and social identity.




Hon. Raymond E. Kramer is an administrative law judge at the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH), where he serves as the Director of the Administrative Judicial Institute and the Executive Director of OATH’s Center for Creative Conflict Resolution. He is an experienced mediator and an adjunct clinical professor of law at New York University Law School, where he co-teaches the Mediation and Advanced Mediation: Dispute System Design Clinics. He is also an adjunct professor at New York University’s School of Professional Studies, where he teaches Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management in the Human Resources Master’s Degree program, and New York University’s Wagner School, where he teaches Negotiation.



David Leichtman is the Managing Partner of trial firm Leichtman Law PLLC, formed in April 2017 after spending over 20 years in larger law firms.  Mr. Leichtman serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Volunteer Lawyers For The Arts; on the IPO Committee on Copyright Practice; and on the NYIPLA Committees on Patent Litigation and Inventor of the Year (co-chair 2014-2017). He has been named a New York SuperLawyer every year since 2010.  In 2016, The New York Law Journal selected him as a Lawyer Who Leads by Example for providing crucial pro bono legal services in New York. He is also a fellow, Litigation Counsel of America, a highly selective Trial Lawyer Honor Society, where he is also a founding member of its Intellectual Property Institute.





Simone Lelchuk is a member of the Weinstein Melnick mediation team where her core practice focuses on the settlement of complex litigation matters including finance, business, class actions, insurance coverage, professional liability, securities, and catastrophic disasters.  She has mediated and managed several multiparty and multifaceted cases through her work with U.S. Fortune 500 companies, European multinationals, government agencies, and midsize U.S. and European-based companies. Her engagements span complex first-, third-party, and excess coverage disputes involving multiple carriers, multiple insurance towers, and reinsurance issues.  A former associate at KPMG LLP as well as Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP, Simone graduated from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law where she gained valuable experience as a participant in the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution, one of the country’s top programs for mediation and alternative dispute resolution.



Lester J. Levy, Esq., JAMS, has served as a full time neutral at JAMS for more than 20 years. Renowned as a mediator, arbitrator, settlement master/ombudsman, and special master/referee for complex matters that span a wide variety of areas of law, Mr. Levy uses his legal, analytical, and conciliation skills to craft the best possible resolution of each case. Known for his ability to quickly identify key issues and to recalibrate dynamics between the parties, Mr. Levy is called upon to assist clients with their most difficult matters, often when prior efforts have proven unsuccessful.







Hon. Robert Levy is a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York, where he also serves as the court's Alternative Dispute Resolution Oversight Judge.  He has served as a Consultant in Mediation for the Federal Judicial Center ("FJC") and is on the faculty of the FJC's education training programs for Magistrate Judges.  Judge Levy has assisted other U.S. federal courts in the evaluation, design and development of their court-annexed ADR programs and has provided training in mediation skills and court ADR design to judges and lawyers in the United States and overseas.   At the time of his appointment, he was General Counsel to New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and previously had served as Senior Staff Attorney and Director of the Mental Health Law Project at the New York Civil Liberties Union. Judge Levy has conducted numerous fact finding missions for Human Rights Watch and Disability Rights International and has written reports analyzing ethnic violence and persecution, conditions of pretrial detention, and freedom of the press and broadcast media. He is an adjunct professor of law at Columbia, New York University and Brooklyn Law Schools and is the co-author with Leonard Rubenstein of The Rights of People With Mental Disabilities  (Southern Illinois University Press, 1996).  



Laurie Mandell is a Claims Manager overseeing a team of specialists who handle Employment Practices Liability (EPL) Claims for Chubb Insurance. Laurie started her career at Chubb as a Senior Claims Specialist, handling EPL claims for public and private entities nationwide. She joined Chubb in December 2013 from CNA Insurance where she handled both EPL and Not-for-Profit D&O Claims in the Commercial Accounts/Specialty Lines group. Laurie previously practiced as an attorney for several years defending General Liability and Medical Malpractice matters in New York. Laurie has a B.S. from Cornell University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.




John McCarrick is the Chair of the D&O Group at White and Williams LLP.  John has been practicing law for 30 years, and throughout that period of time, has devoted his practice to the management and resolution of complex, multi-party disputes. John has been involved in the defense and resolution of myriad D&O liability matters, including many of the most significant lawsuits and financial crises impacting publicly-traded companies, financial institutions and professionals, both in the United States and internationally, over the past three decades. During this period of time, John has participated in hundreds of mediations, as well as direct settlement negotiations and direct litigation, involving claims against companies and their directors and officers and professional advisors for economic losses sustained by constituents, customers and clients.  



Melinda Miner is the Senior Manager and Program Administrator for the Halliburton Dispute Resolution Program and has been a valued employee of the Halliburton companies since the late 1980s. As a business administration major, she has performed duties in project management, accounting and various areas of human resources. Melinda joined the DRP shortly after its inception in 1993 and played a key role  in customizing Chorda, a conflict management tool, to support the DRP’s data collection needs. She leads a staff of 3 ombuds, in addition to the department’s administrative needs, has been certified as a mediator, having mediated matters internally for the last 15 years. She is an active member of SHRM and maintains her certification as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR). Halliburton is an energy services provider founded in 1919, with approximately 50,000 employees in 70 countries.

   



Jordyan Mueller is the statewide Program Coordinator for the Community Mediation School Corps. After graduating from Purchase College in 2010, Jordyan began her career working with rural communities in Herkimer county creating programs for at risk youth. Most recently, Jordyan worked with the National School Climate Center (NSCC) training state, district, and building level leaders around school climate improvement. She helped design a train the trainers model in the state of Minnesota which was recently launched in the state of Pennsylvania as well. Prior to her work with NSCC, she worked within the NYC DoE as a community organizer helping to build a grassroots policy alternative to address segregation in NYC public schools. She also worked extensively with schools in low income communities in Manhattan. She is currently studying for her Masters in Restorative Practices with the International Institute for Restorative Practices.



Sethu L. Nair serves as the Center’s Conflict Resolution Specialist. She manages Conflict Resolution services including; Mediation, Group Facilitation, Conflict Coaching, and Restorative Practices. A Mediator, Circle Keeper, and Coach, Sethu has worked across a range of conflicts including; family matters, small business disputes, non-profit staff and board challenges, workplace conflict and community discord. She is also a leadership development and personal transformation Coach and a founding member of the team at Hidden Water NYC, Sethu also facilitates restorative circles to heal the impact of child sexual abuse in the family system. Prior to joining the Center, Sethu ran her own Conflict Management and Coaching practice. She has also worked for various human rights organizations in New York and India. Sethu is graduate of SUNY Purchase and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and delights in the dynamic interplay of relationships, communication and conflict.



Aimee L. Neri, LMSW, is a Liaison for the New York State Child Welfare Court Improvement Project in the 8th Judicial District. She has fifteen years of experience in the Child Welfare Field supervising mandated and voluntary Parent Education Programs, Agency Foster Care and Adoption Programs, Resource Family Certification as well as practicing Child, Family and Group Therapy. Ms. Neri holds a certificate in Trauma Counseling and multiple Nationally Recognized Evidence-Based Parenting Programs. She is a trained mediator with New York State Office of Court Administration and is a national and international presenter for multi-disciplinary professional development specializing in child welfare, integrating trauma informed care and vicarious trauma. Additionally, Aimee Neri is an adjunct faculty member at the University at Buffalo through the Graduate School of Social Work Program and Empire State University.








Kammae Owens serves as the Assistant Commissioner and EEO Officer for the NYC Department of Correction (DOC). In this capacity, she is responsible for the development of EEO/D&I initiatives which support the significant reforms currently underway impacting over 11,000 employees. Ms. Owens joined DOC in 2013 as an Assistant General Counsel where she assisted with research and drafting of various Department policies and successfully defended the Department in all assigned external EEO matters. Prior to DOC, Ms. Owens worked for thirteen years with the NYC Law Department, Special Federal Litigation Division. Ms. Owens holds a Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School, a dual Master of Arts in Childhood Education and Special Education from New York University, and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from SUNY Buffalo State College. Additionally, Ms. Owens serves as an adjunct professor in the Political Science/Criminal Justice Department at CUNY Kingsborough Community College.



M. Salman Ravala, Esq. is a Senior Partner with Criscione Ravala, LLP’s New York City office where he focuses on business law, employment law, and non-profit law. He litigates in New York state and federal court and also serves as a neutral on various ADR rosters including FINRA, NYS Part 137 Fee Dispute Panel, and New York State Court. He has authored legal articles on ADR that have been published by New York University, as well as the American Bar Association and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.  A 2016 American Arbitration Association Judge Higginbotham Fellow, he is a recipient of the 2013-2017 NYSBA Empire State Counsel Award, the 2015-2017 Super Lawyers® Rising Stars Award, and the 2015-2017 Martindale-Hubbell® “Preeminent” Client Achievement Award. Mr. Ravala is a graduate of Syracuse Law School and is admitted to practice with the Bar of New York and Court of International Trade.





Germaine Robinson graduated from Buffalo State College with a BA in Theater Arts and currently works for the Peacemaker Program in Utica, NY as well as a nightlife security guard at Turning Stone Resort. Germaine first came in contact with the Peacemaker Program, which teaches conflict resolution skills through games, in middle school and high school and felt profoundly impacted by the program. In 2016, Germaine was offered the chance to work with the Peacemaker Program as an CMSC AmeriCorps member, teaching communication and character building skills to middle school students in a local charter school. In addition to the Peacemaker Curriculum, Germaine also provides mediation, conflict coaching, and attendance mediation support. 










Joseph Russo has been a member of the NYC Department of Correction for the past 20 years. He is an Assistant Deputy Warden who is currently in charge of the Brooklyn/ Richmond Court Divisions. Mr. Russo also serves as the Vice President of the Assistant Deputy Wardens/ Deputy Wardens Association which is the Union that represents the 150 members of the Department who hold the aforementioned ranks. One of the functions of Mr. Russo’s position is to represent his members at the EEO office and the related informal conflict resolution meetings.



Marie G. Ryan began her legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County. She began working for the New York City Police Department in 1998 and is currently the Assistant Commissioner of the NYPD Equal Employment Opportunity Office.



Justo A. Sanchez serves as the Center’s Director Center Services at the Center for Creative Conflict Resolution. An experienced facilitator, mediator, trainer and program administrator, who began to develop his craft over 15 years ago, actively mediating, mentoring and facilitating group discussions at various venues throughout New York City. Justo was the Director of OATH’s initial workplace mediation program from 2005-2010. His prior positions include serving as Child Permanency Mediator in a nationally recognized innovative program in the NYC Family Courts and as a Mediation Coordinator for the Center for Court Innovation, where he administered the Harlem Community Justice Center’s Mediation Program, and mediated community disputes and court referred conflicts. Throughout his career, he has worked with a wide variety of groups, couples and individuals across a broad spectrum of conflict themes and contexts, including court and community justice programs, higher education institutions, and private, not-for-profit and governmental organizations.



Esther Saula is a graduating senior at Curtis High School in Staten Island and a 
Peer Mediator at Staten Island's CDRC NYCID. Esther is also winner of the Mediator
of the Year Award of 2017.










Suzanne K. Shafer, MA, is a Child Welfare Court Improvement Project (CWCIP) Liaison to Central New York and the Project Manager for New York State’s Child Welfare Permanency Mediation Program within CWCIP. Ms. Shafer came to CWCIP with a background in mediation, facilitation, youth programs and casework experience. Prior to joining CIP, Suzanne ran multiple programs at a not-for-profit agency including Child Permanency Mediation, Divorce Mediation, Young Leaders in Training and Adventure programs.






Tim Shore is Vice President and Chief Ombudsman at Pfizer, Inc. Tim Shore joined Pfizer in 1991 as Corporate Counsel in the Labor and Employment Law Group in the Legal Division. He was later appointed the Director of Human Resources for the company’s Medical Technology Group. Following the divestiture of that division, Tim was named the Director, Colleague Relations for the company’s Global Manufacturing Group.  He rejoined the Legal Division in 2003 as Director, Human Resources and was appointed the Vice President of HR for the Division in July 2007. In 2009, Tim moved to the Compliance organization where he headed the U.S. Investigations Team for the company’s Primary Care and Established Products business units as well as for its NY Headquarters.  In February of 2011, Tim was selected to be Pfizer’s first-ever Ombudsman and was responsible for launching this new global function at Pfizer. He currently leads the Office of the Ombudsman. Prior to joining Pfizer, Tim practiced labor and employment law with the law firms of Peabody and Brown (now Nixon Peabody) in Boston, MA and Roberts and Finger in New York.  He is admitted to practice in New York and Massachusetts. Tim holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Fordham University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the State University of New York at Oneonta. He is also a Certified Organizational Ombudsman Practitioner (CO-OP®).



Sheila M. Sproule, J.D., is a Management Analyst at the NYS Office of ADR Programs, Division of Professional and Court Services of the Unified Court System. In her role, she spearheads the Diversity and Inclusion in ADR Initiative and Chairs the Mediator Ethics Advisory Committee, which publishes Opinions based on mediators’ ethical inquiries. She serves on the Board of the Association for Conflict Resolution as Chapters Director and formerly served as President of the Association for Conflict Resolution for Greater New York. Sheila was a former Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School's Conflict Resolution and ADR Program, in the Mediation Clinic. Sheila has written numerous articles on mediator standards of conduct and ethics, and is co-authoring an article on expanding the use and understanding of ADR through the non-traditional application of ADR by practitioners outside of their professional role.




Justin Strock is a manager of mediation and restorative programs at the New York Center for Interpersonal Development (NYCID), Staten Island’s Community Dispute Resolution Center; and moonlights as a mediator and attorney in private practice. Justin manages NYCID’s civil and criminal court mediation programs, as well as a conflict resolution and violence prevention program for a high-risk NYCHA community on Staten Island. Justin is also the treasurer for ACRGNY; a circle keeper for Hidden Water, an organization using restorative justice to heal the impact of child sexual abuse in the family system; and member of the Restorative Justice Committee for the National Lawyer's Guild, New York Chapter. His private practice focuses on intellectual property and small business.



TeAna Taylor is an AmeriCorps member serving as a Mediation Program Coordinator at Mont Pleasant Middle School in Schenectady, NY. She provides a peer mediation club, restorative practices and conflict resolution to the students and staff through the Community Mediation School Corps. Having attended MPMS and used mediation services as a youth, TeAna is passionate about providing social and emotional support to the students at Mont Pleasant Middle School. She sees this opportunity as a meaningful way to give back to her community and to help cultivate the next generation of local mediators. TeAna has attended SUNY Schenectady County Community College and will graduate with an AS this December.



Timothy S. Taylor, Esq. is a full-time arbitrator and mediator. A member of the American Arbitration Association’s labor panel, he also serves on the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service panel. Additionally, he currently serves on: NYS/PBA New York Panel for the Agency Police Services Unit; NYS/New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association Arbitration Panel; New York State PERB Arbitration, Mediation & Fact Finding Panel; Albany Citizen’s Police Review Board Mediation Panel; Rochester City School District/Rochester Teachers Association Contract Arbitrator; New York State Education Department Disciplinary Panel. In 2011, he was selected by AAA as a Higginbotham Fellow. From 2009 until 2016, Mr. Taylor was an Assistant Professor of Law at the Sage Colleges and was named faculty member of the year for 2012-2013. Since 2008, he has taught a variety of courses at the State University of New York at Albany. Currently, he teaches in the Department of Africana Studies and in the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy. His courses include Law and the Black Community, The History of the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter. He frequently lectures and advises in the areas of employment discrimination, civil rights, diversity, and inclusion.  Mr. Taylor is a graduate of Cornell Law School and is also a member of the Albany Law School, Government Law Center’s Advisory Board. He resides in Albany, New York, with his wife Nancy.



Erin Thiessen is the Mediation Services Coordinator at Oneida Middle School in Schenectady, New York. With support from Americorps, the Unified Court System, and Mediation Matters, she provides conflict resolution and restorative practices, as well as a Peer Mediation program for her students. Before receiving her position with the aforementioned organizations, Erin has been intensely involved in her community. In high school, she was a Peer Mediator; her experience with Mediation Matters and Schenectady High School created her passion for conflict resolution and restorative practices. For three years, Erin worked with Schenectady Inner City Ministry’s free summer meals program, as well as Camp Steinmetz—their summer day camp which allowed inner-city youth to have an authentic summer camp experience close to home, at no cost. Erin is currently enrolled in SUNY Schenectady County Community College’s Human Services program. After graduation, she plans to attend SUNY Albany to receive Bachelors and Masters Degrees in social work. From there, Erin hopes to return to the Schenectady City School District, to continue the work of those who inspired her.



Iyana Titus is currently the Assistant Commissioner for EEO at Parks & Recreation. Prior to this position, she served as the Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Chief Diversity Officer, where she addressed employment practices and policies related to compliance, recruitment, discrimination, harassment and diversity. Her background was also supplemented by her experience as an Agency Attorney for the Department of Homeless Services, as a Labor & Employee Relations Manager for a small airline carrier and as the Deputy EEO Officer for Parks & Recreation. In those positions, she investigated sexual harassment and discrimination complaints, conducted EEO trainings to managers and employees, wrote employment policies, created EEO literature and defended organizations against potential lawsuits. Ms. Titus holds a BA from Emory University, a JD from Loyola Law School and a Masters degree from the University of Amsterdam, where she studied comparative labor and organization studies. While in Amsterdam, Ms. Titus wrote her thesis on diversity management and the Dutch police and learned Dutch. She is also an active member of Toastmasters (Metro New York Club), the New York State Bar Association (Labor & Employment Section) and the NY Peace Institute, where she serves as a volunteer mediator.



Joan C. Waters joined Columbia University as the University Ombuds Officer in April 2014. A native New Yorker, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University (Bronx, New York) and she earned her Juris Doctorate from St. John's University School of Law (Queens, New York). Joan started her legal career in a civil litigation firm in Manhattan and thereafter moved to the Westchester County Attorney's Office practicing management-side labor and employment litigation. In 2001 and again in 2008, Joan was elected to serve as the Village Justice for the Village of Sleepy Hollow, presiding over the weekly docket of civil, criminal, small claims and vehicle and traffic matters as well as bench and jury trials. During this time, she was also the managing partner and then sole proprietor of a small family law and residential real estate law practice with a particular focus on mediation and collaborative law. Most recently, Joan served as an Associate General Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel at The City University of New York. Since joining Columbia, Joan has become a member of the International Ombudsman Association and as of September 2016, she has been awarded the credential of Certified Organizational Ombudsman Practitioner (COOP).



Christopher Wedeman is an Americorps school mediation officer serving at MS 358, based out of Community Mediation Services (CMS) in Jamaica, Queens. He was born in Amman, Jordan, and speaks English, Arabic, and Italian. Prior to Americorps, Christopher studied and worked as a cultural mediator in Rome with the Catholic refugee resettlement organization, Comunità di Sant’Egidio. While in Rome, he researched and evaluated sites of integration and conducted linguistic and cultural mediation for Arabic-speaking immigrants. In College he co-founded and organized the Bowdoin College chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 2015 with a major in History.








Robyn Weinstein is the ADR Administrator for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.  As the ADR Administrator, Robyn is responsible for managing the EDNY alternative dispute resolution department which includes neutral recruitment, monitoring quality of service, conducting mediations, and developing training and education programming for EDNY neutrals.  Robyn is also an adjunct clinical professor of mediation at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.   



Daniel Weitz, Esq., is the Director of the Division of Professional and Court Services and Statewide Coordinator of the Office of ADR Programs for the New York State Unified Court System, directs the Community Dispute Resolution Centers Program, and serves as Co-Counsel to the Board of Governors of the New York State Attorney-Client Fee Dispute Resolution Program. He is also a past Chair of the New York City Bar Association ADR Committee, past Co-Chair of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section, Court ADR Committee, has served on the NYC Bar Domestic Violence Committee and Science and Law Committee, and he was appointed by New York’s Chief Judge to serve on the Unified Court System's Matrimonial Commission for which he Co-Chaired the Subcommittee on The Use of Experts. Dan has over eighteen years of experience as a court administrator and twenty six years of experience in the field of ADR, serving as an administrator, professor, trainer and practitioner.  He has also taught ADR and conflict resolution related courses at numerous universities, including Cardozo School of Law where he is an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Mediation and NYU School of Law, as an Adjunct Professor of Clinical Law.  Dan has served as a mediator in a wide range of matters and as an ADR speaker both in the United States and abroad, including Japan, China, Thailand and South Africa. He received his law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and has worked at JAMS, the United States Court of Appeals, and he was an original member of FutureLinks Inc. in South Africa.



Cristina Yannucci is a partner in the New York office of Lewis Brisebois and a vice-chair of the Legal Malpractice Defense Practice. Her practice focuses on litigation in the fields of professional liability, insurance coverage and municipal liability. The professional liability practice encompasses claims against attorneys, accountants, appraisers, brokers, title companies, real estate managers, directors and officers. Many of the attorney malpractice claims arise from underlying complex real estate transactions, commercial litigation, international law, the Uniform Commercial Code and corporate governance. Ms. Yannucci’s practice is venued in both the state and federal courts, including many professional liability matters arising in the context of adversary proceedings commenced in the bankruptcy courts. Additionally, Ms. Yannucci handles appellate matters at both the state and federal levels. Before joining Lewis Brisbois, Ms. Yannucci developed her legal expertise as a partner in a large litigation firm, and was a criminal defense attorney with the Nassau County Legal Aid Society.




Giulio Zanolla, Principal at ZanollaMediation and Of Counsel at Thompson Bukher LLP, has over twelve years of ADR experience and has mediated hundreds of disputes including complex, high-stake civil and commercial litigation cases. Giulio’s mediation practice benefits from his years of collaboration with some of the most preeminent commercial mediators in the country as well as from his broad experience acting as counsel in litigation, insurance coverage and commercial transactions, both domestically and internationally. He is on the panels of neutrals of the AAA, the CPR Institute, FINRA, SDNY, and the NYPI. He teaches and mentors in the Mediation Clinic programs at CUNY Law School and Brooklyn Law School.


Association for Conflict Resolution - Greater New York Chapter

© ACR-GNY

Contact Us

Email us at questions@acrgny.org

ACR-GNY's mission and programming are generously sponsored by:

ADR Notable: Dispute Resolution Management Made Easy

Discounts on ADR Notable platform available for ACR-GNY members!

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software