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