| ADReport |
Alternative
Dispute Resolution Section Newsletter |
| Volume Three,
Number One |
Bob Park, Chair
Jonathan S. Rosenthal, Editor
Elizabeth Yarema, Co-Editor |
Update from
the Chair
As we begin our third year as an
MSBA Section, I would like to welcome all of the members who have joined for the
first time this year and also welcome back our previous members. It is a
distinct honor and privilege for me to serve as your Chair for this year. We
have a Section that probably has no peer within the MSBA in terms of a subject
area that is cutting edge for initiatives and programs that are affecting, or
potentially affecting, significantly our practice of law and the administration
of justice by our courts.
We started off the 2002-2003 Bar
Association year with a very successful program in Ocean City at the MSBA
Annual Meeting. The program was jointly sponsored with the Labor and Employment
Law Section and was titled Behind Closed Doors: Preparation and Advocacy in
Employment Mediation.
As I write this article in early
October, our Section Council already has met two times to begin organizing and
planning our programs and other activities for this year. Jonathan Rosenthal
and Elizabeth Yarema have agreed to be the Co-Editors of our Newsletter. They
are hoping to publish, as we did last year, at least three issues before June,
2003.
Louise Phipps Senft and Bill Byrnes have volunteered to be
Co-Chairs for our Third Annual Spring Dinner program which will be held in May,
2003. Danny O’Connor and Doug Furlong are the Co-Chairs for our Annual Meeting
program in Ocean City in June,
2003. Trish Miller has agreed to serve as our Legislative Liaison to monitor
any ADR-related bills that are introduced in the upcoming session of the General
Assembly.
In addition to the work of our
Committees, we have individual members of the Section Council who are busy with
other ADR programs. Venetia Bell, Jonathan Rosenthal, and Elizabeth Yarema
presented a MICPEL program on October 25, 2002 on how attorneys should properly
prepare and represent clients in mediations. It is hoped this will be presented
regularly to continue to prepare attorneys for mediation. Please contact MICPEL
for more details. In addition Jonathan Rosenthal, Trish Miller and Louise
Phipps Senft have been monitoring the work of the Court of Appeals’ Rules
Committee which is close to finalizing its recommendations on the new Business
and Technology Court Differentiated Case Management Rules and particularly the
ADR Rules related to those types of cases. Section Council members also are
assisting MACRO in finalizing of the online directory of ADR practitioners in Maryland
which is jointly being undertaken with CDRUM (Center for Dispute Resolution at
the University of Maryland School of Law)
and MLAN (the Maryland Legal Assistance Network). Please stay tuned for more
details as this project moves to completion by the end of this year or early
2003.
As noted in our last Newsletter, the Section Email List is up and
running. In order to be added to the Email List and to receive announcements and
other information electronically, you need to go to the ADR Section homepage. From there, clink the link
that says, “Join the ADR Section Email List” and follow the directions for being
added to the Email List. One of the communications that you will start receiving
by joining the Email List is a synopsis of the Minutes of the Section Council
meetings that will help you understand the business that is being conducted
monthly by the Section Council.
One of the main topics of our last Section Council meeting was a
discussion of ways in which we could involve more of our members in Section
programs and activities. Included with this Newsletter is a questionnaire that
we would ask every member to complete and send in to help us gauge the interest
of members in becoming more involved in Section activities and to give us
additional ideas as to how that could be accomplished. Your time and input in
completing this survey is much appreciated since it will greatly assist the
Section Council in creating new ways for making your membership in the ADR
Section more meaningful and worthwhile.
We look forward to working with
you this year.
Bob Park
