2020 IAM Spring Virtual Conference Program

PROGRAM

VIRTUALLY YOURS: A LOOK TO THE FUTURE

Opening eyes to a world of new approaches, challenges, and opportunities”

All times are Eastern Daylight Time, so we are starting at 15:00 UTC.  To convert the times for your time zone, click here.

Friday, May 1

11:00 am – 11:10 am       Welcome

11:10 am – 12:40 pm       Let’s Get Evaluative. . .How and When Do We Do It: with Dwight Golann, IAM Scholar-in-Residence (USA) and Professor of Law, Suffolk University

Good mediators constantly evaluate what is happening in our cases. We keep most of these opinions hidden—or do we? Videos of leading meditators show that they regularly convey viewpoints, often indirectly and perhaps even unconsciously. We’ll show examples and ask you to discuss: When do you provide direction to parties? On what topics, using what techniques? Do you ever “leak” a viewpoint, intentionally or not? This is a chance to reflect on what you do, and to hear from colleagues about this charged topic.

12:40 pm – 12:55 pm     Break

12:55 pm – 1:40 pm     Mediating Cross-Cultural Disputes: The Challenges and Potential with Orit Asnin, IAM Distinguished Fellow (Israel) & Fernando Navarro, IAM Mentee (Mexico)

How do mediators handle decision-making that differs by culture? The program will explore how even within seemingly common cultures parties can vary their approach by age, heritage, social status and the like.  Using their experience mediating in these cross-cultural environments, the speakers will discuss the challenges and the opportunities, including whether we are seeing the beginnings of a COVID-19 effect on how people across the globe view decision-making.

1:40 pm – 1:50 pm      IAM 2020 Business Meeting

1:50 pm – 2:05 pm     Break

2:05 pm – 3:05 pm     KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Negotiating in the Military: Why It Is Not an Oxymoron with Brig. Gen. Linell A. Letendre, Dean of the Faculty, U.S. Air Force Academy

General Letendre has been active in promoting the teaching of negotiation and mediation in the military.  She will discuss why learning negotiation skills is valuable even in the military where there is a chain of command and the primary mission is warfighting. She will discuss why negotiation training has been introduced in the military and how her experience has informed her reasons for promoting it. She then will present a case study – the complex multi-party negotiation that was facilitated by a working group at the Pentagon that lead to the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” This historic negotiation process engaged the White House, Congress, all five military services, and a diverse number of competing interest groups.

3:05 pm – 3:20 pm     Break

3:20 pm – 4:20 pm   Is That Technology Knocking on Your Mediation Door? Should You Answer It? Yes! with Chuck Doran, IAM Distinguished Fellow (USA) & Geoff Sharp, IAM Distinguished Fellow (New Zealand)

From Asia to Europe to North America, tech tools including artificial intelligence, litigation analytics, and big data are being developed and used successfully to help parties evaluate risk and resolve disputes. These tools may at first seem like a threat to mediators – but are they? Join Geoff Sharp, Chuck Doran, and some industry experts (including Colin Rule) to raise your awareness about these tools and learn why mediators should embrace technology to better serve their clients.

4:20 pm                            Conference Ends

Click here to register for the 2020 Virtual Conference.