Here is the article that was just published in the Contra Costa Lawyer, Volume 26, Number 1- January 2013. I am starting an exciting years as Chair of the ADR Section of the Contra Costa Bar Association.
Meet Your Section Leaders – Alternative Dispute Resolution
How has section membership benefited your practice?
I joined the ADR Section so that I could be on the cutting edge of the way we resolve disputes in our society, including the way we litigate in California. I did it so that my corporate clients would always benefit from the earliest thoughts and processes available and that my mediation practice would correspondingly expand and be the best it could be.
On my own, I would have had zero influence on the profession. As part of the ADR section, we collectively help direct the future of Alternative Dispute Resolution processes in Contra Costa and the State of California. This has allowed my practice to be in the forefront of ADR. Rarely will my general counsel clients be criticized for selecting me as a mediator. They are able to confidently tell their parties that they tried everything to avoid litigating and incurring additional legal fees and their company bosses can then assure their directors and shareholders that they have retained the best.
Besides being on the forefront of ADR, we are able to advise Courts and members of the Bar as to the best practices ADR has to offer. Currently, we are actively helping the Courts develop rules, policies and procedures to avoid having justice grind to a halt in our current Court budget crisis. I am also able to modify my practice to prepare for the coming changes in rules, policies and procedures.
At every one of our programs, be it a formal presentation or informal roundtable, I learn something new that will benefit my mediation practice in concrete ways. Every one of our events is designed to benefit the ADR practitioner – whether it be a roundtable on mediation practice marketing, or our yearly specialized class on How to Mediate with Self Represented Litigants.
Why should someone join the ADR Section?
By joining the section, ADR practitioners and those who participate in ADR as an advocate for their clients will benefit themselves and their clients in knowing the direction of dispute resolution in Contra Costa and the way litigation will occur in California in the continuing Court budget crisis
About the Author: Ken Strongman (www.kpstrongman.com) has years of experience and a growing national reputation as a mediator and arbitrator. He has successfully resolved more than a thousand disputes in the fields of construction defects, real estate, intellectual property, and employment. He is also a Mediator and Arbitrator for FINRA.
© 2020 Ken Strongman. All Rights Reserved. Please do not copy or repost without permission.