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Take a giant leap forward with the NEW Dispute Resolution Section

Issue September/October 2016

By now, you might have heard the news that the MBA ADR Committee, established some 20 years ago as a closed Standing Committee, has been transformed to the full Dispute Resolution DR Section, to mirror the incredible evolution of our field of practice across all areas of the law. The MBA's newest section is geared up and celebrating its move to full section status for the 2016-17 association year.

Dispute Resolution has come a long way! Recollection of 1980s perspectives that dispute resolution had modest viability as a practice area is but a distant gleam in the eyes of the thousands of practitioners, attorneys, insurers, business people, and consumer laymen who employ DR in everything from routine disputes to complex cases of all varieties.

Newsworthy as well, is the name shift to 'DR' from alternative dispute resolution or ADR. With less than 2 percent of cases now ever reaching trial, Dispute Resolution has truly become the primary and appropriate means of legal case management and disposition. While it may take time to get used to this shortened reference, most of us are already veterans of its actual use, since our field has grown far beyond strictly mediation and arbitration to a much wider Dispute Resolution Umbrella (see insert).

We've put together a truly impressive Section Council of dedicated DR experts who have already begun their work to bring you practical and useful information, educational opportunities, and networking events, including the DR Inaugural Reception on 9/20 from 5:30-7:30pm at the MBA (all are welcome, please RSVP), and the 1st Annual Dispute Resolution Symposium which will be held in May, 2017. We have also assembled an extraordinary Advisory Group, consisting of other preeminent DR leaders across many industry aspects, all willing to share their ideas, experience, and advisement to members of our Council and Section.

Please join us as we move forward as the only cohesive, state-wide platform for practitioners and users alike, established to share the knowledge necessary to bring each of us and our clients the most successful DR advantages available. Join the Dispute Resolution Section via My Bar Access at www.massbar.org.

Contacts: Brian R. Jerome, Esq., chair; Sarah E. Worley, vice chair