The following notice about our upcoming conference at Texas A&M is from my wonderful colleague, and FOI, Nancy Welsh:
Dear Colleagues,
On Friday, April 13, 2018, Texas A&M University School of Law will hold a conference entitled Natural Disasters, Stakeholder Engagement and Dispute Resolution. The conference will address how dispute resolution and collaborative processes can play a role in recovering from the devastating consequences of natural disasters such as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and the fires and mud slides in California, and in taking effective action to promote resilience in response to future natural disasters. The conference will be of interest to public officials, city planners, dispute resolution professionals, lawyers, judges, and other professionals involved in disaster recovery, as well as any individual or organization concerned about our changing climate and the need to plan for recovery and resilience. Please feel free to spread the word.
The conference is co-sponsored by four of the law school’s programs: Aggie Dispute Resolution (ADR) Program, Natural Resources Systems Program, Program on Real Estate and Community Development Law, and Global Programs.
Our intent is to create a day of presentations and dialogue involving practitioners and academics in a collaborative atmosphere that can yield new insights, knowledge and best practices in tackling extremely difficult issues under adverse circumstances. Disasters can sometimes lead to a certain amount of paralysis and disorganization. On the other hand, we can learn from individuals, organizations and communities that have risen to the challenge to collaborate and develop creative procedures to facilitate recovery and to plan for resilience. We can also learn from those who have shaped legal structures to incentivize collaboration and creativity and promote resilience.
You will find more detail below regarding the presentations and panels, with even more information (including registration, logistics, etc.) at: law.tamu.edu/DisasterDR or https://law.tamu.edu/faculty-staff/news-events/conferences-and-symposia/natural-disasters-stakeholder-engagement-and-dispute-resolution
NATURAL DISASTERS, STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Friday, April 13, 2018
Texas A&M University School of Law
Fort Worth, Texas
Keynote Address — John Sharp, Chancellor, Texas A&M University System, and Chair, Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas
Panel 1: Hurricane Harvey, Houston and Texas as Case Study for Stakeholder Engagement and Dispute Resolution in Response to a Natural Disaster — Marvin Odum, Former President, Shell Oil Company and Chief Recovery Officer, City of Houston • Bill Fulton, Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Rice University • Augustus Campbell, President/CEO, West Houston Association • Moderator: Gabriel Eckstein, Professor of Law and Director, Program in Natural Resources Systems, Texas A&M University School of Law
Panel 2: Engaging Vulnerable Populations as Stakeholders — Shannon Van Zandt, Department Head, Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning, and Nicole & Kevin Youngblood Professor of Residential Land Development, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University • Grande Lum, Director, Divided Community Project, Ohio State University Moritz School of Law and Former Director, Community Relations Service, U.S. Department of Justice • Moderator: Cynthia Alkon, Professor of Law and Associate Dean, Texas A&M University School of Law
Panel 3: National and International Perspectives on Public Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement for Recovery and Resilience — Dr. Ashley D. Ross, Assistant Professor, Department of Marine Sciences, Texas A&M University-Galveston • James Pearman, Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisor, FEMA, and Former Mayor, City of Mercer Island, Washington • Amnon Reichman, Associate Professor of Law, University of Haifa, and Visiting Associate Professor of Comparative Civil Law, Berkeley Law • Blake Hudson, Professor of Law, University of Houston Law • Moderator: Charlotte Ku, Professor of Law and Associate Dean, Texas A&M University School of Law
Panel 4: National and International Perspectives on Courts’ and Insurers’ Procedural Innovations in Response to Natural Disasters — Robert H. Jerry, Isidor Loeb Professor of Law, University of Missouri School of Law • Ramon Reyes, Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York • Robyn Weinstein, ADR Administrator, U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York • Kim Taylor, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and Operating Officer, JAMS • Moderator: Peter Reilly, Associate Professor of Law, Texas A&M University School of Law
I hope we’ll see you there!
