Committees & Rosters - 2008 California Dispute Resolution Council

Committees & Rosters - 2008

Much of CDRC's work is done by its committees. If you have any interest, and we hope you do, in working with CDRC, the place to start is a committee. The more hands and minds we have, the more CDRC can do and with some of the recent decisions and actions which appear to be hostile to ADR, more hands are needed. Contact the Committee Chair for any committee in which you are interested.

CDRC 2008 COMMITTEE LIST

Executive Committee
Arbitration Legislation
Mediation Legislation
Public Policy
Membership
Bylaws
Education
Principles & Standards
Communications
Annual Conference
Nominating
Awards
Community Mediation
Publicity and Goodwill

Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is comprised of the Council’s officers, the immediate past president, two at-large members from the Board of Directors, and the Chair of the Membership committee. This committee oversees all the workings of CDRC as a corporation, makes proposals to the Board which are placed on the calendar for each Board meeting, and takes action required between Board meetings.

President:	Paul Dubow
President Elect:	Maury Zilber
Immediate Past President:	Don Fobian
Secretary:	Karen Smith
Treasurer:	Candace Matson
At-Large Member:	John Horn
At-Large Member:	Elizabeth Strickland

Arbitration Legislation
The Arbitration Legislation committee reviews bills introduced in the legislature which contain references to arbitration, and recommends to the Board what action should be taken. This committee also gives advice and guidance on arbitration issues to the legislature, the governor’s office and other advocacy groups through our lobbyist, Donne Brownsey.

Chair: Carl Ingwalson

Committee members: Paul Dubow, Urs Laeuchli, Jim Madison, Kevin Midlam, Mike Powell, Paul Taylor, and Maury Zilber

Mediation Legislation

The Mediation Legislation committee reviews bills introduced in the legislature which affect the process or practice of mediation, and recommends to the Board what action should be taken. This committee also gives advice and guidance concerning mediation issues to the legislature, the governor’s office and other advocacy groups through our lobbyist, Donne Brownsey.

Chair: John Horn

Committee members: Jennifer Bullock, Steve Dinkin, Paul Dubow, Don Fobian, Jim Madison, Mike Powell, Ron Rosenfeld, Steve Sauer, and Ivan Stevenson

Collaborative Law Legislation

The Collaborative Law Legislation committee reviews bills introduced in the legislature which affect the process or practice of collaborative law, and recommends to the Board what action should be taken. This committee also gives advice and guidance concerning collaborative law issues to the legislature, the governor’s office and other advocacy groups through our lobbyist, Donne Brownsey.

Chair: Ron Rosenfeld

Committee members: Fred Glassman, Michelle Katz, Gary Weiner, and Maury Zilber

Public Policy

The Public Policy committee is responsible for reviewing matters that raise public policy issues in connection with ADR, and recommending action to the Board of Directors.

The committee recommends action to the Board about regulatory issues, such as rules proposed by the Judicial Council and by the State Bar, and also about the filing of appellate briefs by the CDRC as amicus curiae. The committee drafted comments when the Judicial Council proposed the Ethical Standards for Neutral Arbitrators in Contractual Arbitrations and the Rules of Conduct for Mediators in Court-Connected Mediation Programs in Civil Cases, and more recently when the State Bar proposed to adopt Rule of Professional Conduct 2.4. Amicus briefs were filed with the California Supreme Court in Engalla v. Permanente Medical Group, Inc. (1995), Foxgate Homeowners Assn. v. Bramalea California, Inc. (2001) and Rojas v. Superior Court (2004) and with the Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District in Costello v. Superior Court (2005).

Chair: Jim Madison

Committee members: John Blackman, Paul Dubow, Steve Sauer, Dennis Sharp, Ivan Stevenson, and Gary Weiner

Membership

Membership dues are the key to CDRC’s income, and is directly tied to its ability to pay a top-rate lobbyist. The Membership committee organizes activities to reach out for new CDRC members. CDRC must have a broad base of membership in order to be effective in its outreach to the ADR community, and to fulfill the goals set by CDRC.

Chair: Gerry Phillips

Committee members: Paul Dubow, and Ron Rosenfeld

Bylaws

The Bylaws committee reviews and addresses the guidelines under which the organization operates.

Chair: Maury Zilber

Committee members: Don Fobian, and Elizabeth Strickland

Education/Public Speaking

The Education Committee plans and presents panel discussions and dialogues on timely subjects of interest to ADR practitioners and consumers of ADR services. These presentations are made at the Annual Conference as well as other events throughout the year. The Committee also coordinates the publication of articles on issues of interest to the ADR community.

Northern California Chair: Gary Weiner

Southern California Chair: Steve Dinkin

Committee members: (Southern California) Richard Bayer, Richard Chernick, Carl Ingwalson, and Mike Powell. (Northern California) Ruth Glick, Jim Madison, Tom Reese, and Maury Zilber.

Principles and Standards

The Principles and Standards committee is charged with the task of articulating and protecting ADR’s basic principles, and developing standards for the good practice of ADR.

One of CDRC’s most important contributions to the field of ADR has been the authorship of two seminal documents: Dispute Resolution Principles, and Standards of Practice for California Mediators. These documents were drafted to guide the growth and development of ADR, and to help protect the integrity of ADR processes. The committee monitors these two documents to ensure their continuing vitality.

Dispute Resolution Principles has been provided to many members of the California legislature, governor’s office and their staff, and has been used as a touchstone in drafting and amending legislation involving ADR issues. When the California Judicial Council recently convened a working group to draft new rules of court to govern the standards of conduct for mediators in court-connected mediation programs (Ca. Rules of Court 1620, et seq.), that group used CDRC’s Standards of Practice for California Mediators as the basic guiding document. Standards of Practice for California Mediators has also been cited in at least one published opinion by the California Court of Appeal as an authoritative statement of principles governing the practice of mediation. (Furia v. Helm (2003) 111 Cal.App.4th 945, 953.)

Chair: John Blackman

Committee members: Jennifer Bullock, Steve Dinkin, Jim Madison, Tom Reese, Steve Sauer, and Ivan Stevenson.

Annual Conference

The Annual Conference committee plans and organizes the ADR Policy Conference which is held each year to explore issues and topics of concern to the ADR community.

Chair: Karen Smith

Committee members: Paul Dubow, John Horn, Michelle Katz, Candace Matson, Michael Powell, and Gary Weiner.

Nominating

The Nominating committee is chaired by the immediate past president. In addition to the immediate past president, the committee consists of the current president and no fewer than three additional members from the Board, who are appointed by the immediate past president. This committee is charged with developing and recommending a slate of candidates for the upcoming year’s Board of Directors which reflects the diverse locations, areas of practice, cultural backgrounds and experience of ADR professionals across the state.

Chair: Don Fobian

Committee members: Paul Dubow, Michelle Katz, Karen Smith, and Elizabeth Strickland.

Communications

The Communications committee is primarily responsible for maintaining CDRC’s website. Committee members ensure that the website provides current, accurate, useful information to members. The members of the CDRC Executive Committee serve as editors-in-chief for website content.

The Communications committee also prepares materials for transmittal to members, including information on proposed legislation, rules, legislative alerts, and summaries of relevant court decisions. The committee also notifies members of significant hearings and other events in which CDRC members can participate, and handles publicity for events sponsored by CDRC and other ADR groups.

Chair: Elizabeth Strickland

Committee members:

Awards

The Awards committee is charged with selecting candidates for awards presented at the CDRC Annual ADR Policy Conference. In the past the committee has overseen presentation of the Bob Barrett Award, the CDRC Founders’ Award, and the Don Weckstein Memorial Award, which is given to honor “outstanding leaders in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution who demonstrably elevate the practice and perception of ADR in California and beyond.” Awards are given for areas such as service to the public and to the ADR field.

Chair: Mark Roy

Committee members: John Blackman, Don Fobian, and Ron Rosenfeld

Community Mediation

The Community Mediation committee is responsible for maintaining a strong relationship between CDRC and community mediation programs throughout the state. CDRC has been instrumental in forming the California Coalition for Community Mediation. Members of the committee act as liaisons with the Coalition, and work together to provide a voice for community mediation at the state level.

Chair: Jennifer Bullock

Committee members: Steve Dinkin, Brohne Lawhorne, Mark Roy, and Elizabeth Strickland.

Publicity and Goodwill

The Publicity and Goodwill Ambassador is recognized for his skill in bringing positive attention to the efforts of CDRC, and building momentum for CDRC's projects and purposes.

Ambassador: Gerry Phillips