I am writing from the Spring Conference of the ABA Section on Dispute Resolution in sunny and pleasant San Francisco, CA.  Highlights for me so far have included helping organize, judge and watch the ABA Representation in Mediation Competition, won by the University of Maryland School of Law (students Jeffrey Lillien and David Pantzer, coached by Toby Guerin).  Following in a very close second were students from Seton Hall Law School, coached by David White.   We are very grateful to the many judge and mediator volunteers for making the competition so realistic and educational.   Special congratulations to Section Staff Attorney, David Moora, and the rest of the Competition Committee (Alyson Carrel, Darshan Brach, and Mariana Hernandez Crespo) for drafting terrific mediation problems and running a smooth competition.

A second highlight for me was this morning’s Mediation Plenary, “The Psychology of Forgiveness,” by Dr. Frederic Luskin of Stanford University.  Dr. Luskin’s riveting yet simple talk addressed the power of forgiveness to heal and bring about health benefits to those in conflict.  He urged mediators and lawyers to ask their clients to think about kindness and the power of positive action as a means to make peace with the word “no.”  Even if disputants resolve conflict, absent forgiveness, they cannot learn skillful resilience and move forward.  He also explained that forgiving is not the same as condoning or reconciling, and it is “not inimical to justice.”  By asking the 400 or so attendees at this plenary to practice two simple meditation exercises, Dr. Luskin demonstrated that thinking positively about a person simply feels better and healthier than holding on to feelings of resentment and anger.   His message —  do what we do with more kindness and be gentle and forgiving of ourselves in our daily lives — was inspiring and resonated deeply for me both professionally and personally.

JG