From FOI Tom Stipanowich (Pepperdine):

I recently had the chance to deliver reflections on almost four decades of experience with dispute resolution as keynoter for Cardozo School of Law’s Symposium on the “The Pound Conferences: Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where are We Going?” Like many of you, my whole career has unfolded against the backdrop of the “Quiet Revolution in dispute resolution” that began in the U.S. in the late seventies. Since my first experiences as an advocate in arbitration and mediation in ‘80 and ‘81, I’ve focused on these subjects as a scholar, commercial arbitrator and mediator, trainer, policymaker, a leader of two organizations in the field, and even a party in mediation.

My keynote, now published in written form, draws on this background and many other sources, including recent empirical studies of mediators and arbitrators as well as new findings on mediation in the Maryland court system. I’ve identified ten overarching themes, surface related concerns and pose key questions:

Thomas J. Stipanowich, Living the Dream of ADR: Reflections on Four Decades of the Quiet Revolution in Dispute Resolution, 18 Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 513 (2017) (Symposium issue for Jed. D. Melnick Symposium).

The article may be accessed and downloaded here. All the articles from the symposium are available here.

What are your perspectives? I invite you to read the article and then share your own reflections.