by Blane G. McCarthy, Chair
As the use of alternative dispute resolution has grown, and as the number of ADR practitioners has grown, so too has the Jacksonville Bar Association’s ADR Section. During the upcoming year, our section has a three-fold agenda.
First, we wish to be an educational resource for you. The use of arbitration and mediation spans practice areas represented by other JBA sections. Many of those sections will conduct CLE seminars, in which we will contribute presentations or panels to discuss legal and practical information to help you more effectively use ADR in your field of practice.
Second, we wish to provide a forum for fellowship within. Being an arbitrator or mediator
is often a lonely task. While the ADR session allows us to interact with parties and advocates, there is generally no such setting for
us to interact with other arbitrators and mediators. Through lunch meetings and email, we hope to feed our own need for fellowship. The ADR section aspires to be its own forum, where our members can float ideas, query issues, share war stories, and otherwise increase our competence and job satisfaction.
Third, we wish to be educated by you. Feedback is something the ADR practitioner must deliberately pursue and, for that reason, is often not obtained. If we are to do our task well, we need to learn your opinions as to what works and what does not. I encourage you to call 391-0091 or e-mail [email protected] to provide general positive and negative feedback regarding mediation and arbitration. I will redact any names referenced and forward your anonymous thoughts to our section members, so that we can be responsive and better service your ADR needs. To paraphrase the infamous words of Jerry MaGuire, “help us help you.”
It is never too late to join our section or to provide us with your valued opinions. We look forward to helping you better utilize ADR in your practice and to improving our ability to further that end.