For the past 15 years, I have attended the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section’s annual conference, and I plan to go this year, too. The ABA bills it as the world’s largest ADR conference, but that’s not the draw for me. I go because they have an all-day court ADR symposium that gives me the opportunity to meet with and learn from my court ADR colleagues from around the nation and the world.
As is usually the case, RSI will be presenting at the Court ADR Symposium and in the main conference. In the Court ADR Symposium, I will talk about our newly renovated CourtADR.org resource center, especially the interactive bibliography of studies of cost, pace and satisfaction in court ADR programs. (I hope the renovations are complete by then!) In the main conference, I will be part of a panel discussing licensing, certification, etc. for mediators.
This year the conference takes place April 2-5 in Miami. The deadline for the ABA’s lower-cost early bird registration is February 14, 2014 – Valentine’s Day. If you just attend the Court ADR Symposium, the cost is $110 for all day. Plus, considering the vexatious winter affecting much of the country, the idea of a few days in Miami sounds wonderful! But I don’t suggest you mention that when you ask your court to fund the trip. Instead, you might want to try for a scholarship from the ABA. The deadline for that is a week earlier, February 7.
See you in Miami!
