The Atlanta Lawyer August/September 2015 | Page 48
section update
Dispute Resolution Section
By John F. Allgood
Ford Harrison
[email protected]
S
ince 2007 the Dispute Resolution Section of the
Atlanta Bar Association has partnered with Atlanta
Legal Aid to provide pro bono mediation services to
parties involved in legal aid serviced matters. The purpose
of the program is to provide fair, fast, and cost effective
mediation resolution to all parties involved in these disputes.
This program allows Atlanta Legal Aid to augment the reach
of its budget and provide additional services to the people
in our community who have dispute resolution needs.
DR Section members act as pro bono mediators in these
instances and most cases typically last about half of a day.
The program is based on agreement by the Legal Aid clients
with the opposing party to mediate the dispute using this pro
bono mediation forum.
The pro bono mediation program has successfully resolved
95% of the cases referred to it. The DR section mediators who
have handled recent cases in the program include Erika Birg,
Robbie Dokson, Bill Goodman, Dan Gulden, Paul Hermann,
Patrick Jones, Robert Leitch, Speer Mabry, Ellen Malow, Lynn
Russell and Penn Spell. Additional volunteers interested
in serving in these cases are requested to send a copy of
your current CV to Taylor Tapley Daly, Nelson Mullins Riley
& Scarborough, 201 17th Street N.W., Suite 1700, Atlanta,
Georgia 30363, [email protected]. Please
include a confirmation that you are currently registered with
GODR and identify areas of your practice.
On August 20, 2015 the Section held its first breakfast
program in the current program series featuring Harold
Coleman, Director of Mediation.Org
as the guest speaker. Mediation.
Org is the mediation arm of the
American Arbitration Association and
provides mediation services through
its administration. Coleman spoke on
trends and developments for mediators
and the mediation process in the
United States. The next DR Section
breakfast will be a joint meeting with
the Construction Section of the Atlanta
Bar to be held on October 7, 2015 at
the Buckhead Club and will feature a
discussion of recent changes to the
AAA Construction Arbitration Rules by
Linda Beyea, Vice President of AAA.
Rule changes include the additional
discussion in arbitration preliminary hearings between the
arbitrator and the parties of a mediation option to be conducted
on a parallel time frame to the schedule for an arbitration
hearing.
The pro bono program is administered by
DR Section member Taylor Daly of Nelson
Mullins, Riley & Scarborough. To date the
program has the participation of over twenty
pro bono volunteer mediators who represent
a wide range of law practice experience.
The pro bono program is administered by DR Section
member Taylor Daly of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.
To date th