ROUNDTABLE BREAKFAST: Icebergs, Disputants, and the Limitations of Mediators

ACR-GNY & CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College present

Icebergs, Disputants, and the Limitations of Mediators

Many negotiation and mediation trainers have used the image of the iceberg to help trainees better understand the complexity of conflict situations. The iceberg has opened many opportunities for conversations about what is visible and what isn't in a conflict and to a mediator. A New York-based mediator will report on his trip to Antarctica, where he observed mediation processes among the floating icebergs.

F. PETER PHILLIPS

F. Peter Phillips is an arbitrator, mediator and teacher practicing through Business Conflict Management LLC in Montclair, New Jersey. He has mediated and arbitrated hundreds of disputes and is listed on many provider panels, including CPR; American Arbitration Association; the state and federal courts of New Jersey and New York; FINRA; China Council for Promotion of International Trade; and others. He is accredited by the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators and certified by the International Mediation Institute.

A recognized authority on conflict management and resolution, Mr. Phillips is Director of the ADR Skills Program and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at New York Law School. He has been Guest Lecturer at New York University School of Law, Fordham Law School, Columbia University, and Pepperdine University School of Law. He has taught, lectured and conducted workshops in the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia. He is editor of four books, chapter contributor to six books, and author of three CEDR Award-winning films, as well as many articles on ADR. Mr. Phillips has received training from the Straus Institute of Pepperdine University School of Law, CPR Institute, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, ICC, CIArb, and others.  

Mr. Phillips is a member of the Justice Marie L. Garibaldi American Inn of Court for Alternative Dispute Resolution; the American Bar Association Business Law Section (former Chair, Dispute Resolution Committee) and Dispute Resolution Section (former member of Council); and the Union International des Avocats World Mediation Forum. He is a member of the bars of the states of New York, New Jersey, California, and of the United States Supreme Court.

From 1998 to 2008, he served as Senior Vice President of the CPR Institute in New York City. From 1987 to 1998 he was a litigation associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel and Schulte Roth & Zabel in New York City. Mr. Phillips is a cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College and a magna cum laude graduate of New York Law School, and received a diploma from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. 

Mr. Phillips has served as a Trustee of New York Law School, and of the New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). He is President and Director of the New York Wagner Society. He maintains a blog at www.BusinessConflictManagement.com.