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Recent Events
Changing Times Changing Times - Changing Practice:
Effective Legal Strategies to Resolve New Environmental Disputes
The practice of law is expanding as environmental problems worsen, raising unique conflict resolution challenges: conflicts that involve new issues, multiple stakeholders, and, often, several jurisdictions. There is a need for new forums to supplement and substitute for adjudicatory tribunals. Lawyers must learn new strategies to convene those affected and represent them successfully in these forums. This conference examines several contexts where new approaches to lawyering are required and being used with success. These include President Obama’s memorandum on collaborative governmental decision-making, the adjustment of property rights in communities threatened by sea level rise, the siting of energy generation and high-technology energy facilities, and new regulatory approaches to mitigate climate change involving energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Experienced attorneys who successfully use new conflict resolution strategies and forums for conflict management will discuss the role of lawyers in representing clients as this area of practice evolves, particularly in marshalling facts to define and resolve interests involved. Panelists will discuss real cases, practical tools and techniques, and successful forums and strategies.
When: November 17, 2009 (8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.)
Where: The University Club, One West 54th Street, New York, NY (click here for directions)
Click here for program brochure, including further details on panels, session topics, and more.
Speakers:
Jessica Bacher, Senior Managing Attorney, Land Use Law Center
David Batson, Acting EPA Dispute Resolution Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Michael Bogert, Senior Counsel, Crowell & Moring, LLP
John Cappello, Esq., Partner, Jacobowitz & Gubits, LLP
Rachel E. Deming, Partner and Environmental Mediator, Scarola Ellis LLP
Pamela Esterman, Esq., Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C.
Curtis Fisher, Regional Executive Director, National Wildlife Federation’s Northeast Regional Center
al Peter V. K. Funk, Jr., Partner, Duane Morris LLP
Lisa F. Garcia, Chief Advocate for Environmental Justice and Equity, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
Ridgway M. Hall, Jr., Crowell & Moring, LLP
Caroline G. Harris, Esq., GoldmanHarris LLC
William H. Hyatt, Jr., Partner, K & L Gates LLP
Howard Kaufman, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Leyland Alliance LLC
Robert M. Loughney, Esq., Couch White, LLP
Sarah G. Newkirk, Coastal Program Director, The Nature Conservancy
John R. Nolon, Esq., Director, The Kheel Center on the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes
Michael L. Rodburg, Esq., Firm Chairman, Lowenstein Sandler PC
Cherie Shanteau-Wheeler, Senior Mediator/Senior Program Manager, U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution
George Stafford, Deputy Secretary of State, State of New York Department of State
Eleanor Stein, Esq., Administrative Law Judge, New York State Public Service Commission *affiliation for identification purposes only
Edna R. Sussman, Arbitrator and Mediator, SussmanADR LLC
Usha Wright, Esq., Executive Vice President, O’Brien & Gere
Co-Sponsors:
Lowenstein Sandler PC
Leyland Alliance
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
Participating Sponsors:
American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources
Environmental Law Institute
Federal Bar Association Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Section
Federal Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section
New York City Bar Environmental Law Committee
New York State Bar Dispute Resolution Section
Pace Law School Center for Environmental Legal Studies
ADR: Building Bridges to a Better Society
American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution
11th Annual Spring Conference
The American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution is hosting its 11th Annual Spring Conference – ADR: Building Bridges to a Better Society. This four-day conference, dedicated to alternative methods of dispute resolution, is the largest and most comprehensive conference for dispute resolution professionals worldwide. The Conference offers 100 education sessions, informative and interactive exhibits, and many opportunities to network with peers. Kheel Center staff and advisors will be presenting at this upcoming event.
Kheel Center Panel: For over 30 years, professionals have excelled at environmental dispute resolution by discovering the interests of parties involved in rights-based litigation or regulatory proceedings and framing settlement agreements based on those interests. This panel discusses a third arena of practice, beyond the reach of regulatory agencies and courts into the emerging conflicts precipitated by climate change and acute pressures on land and non-renewable resources. Through interactive presentation and discussion, the panel will explore how the experience of ADR professionals can be used to educate and train lawyers who counsel the growing number of clients that contribute to these emerging environmental conflicts and have an interest in their proper management. The presenters are principals involved in the Kheel Center on the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes at Pace University School of Law, which is engaged in exploring and answering this question.
When: April 15 - 18, 2009 (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
Where: Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, 811 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019
Click here for more information about this event
Click here to view the Program Brochure
Environmental Dispute Resolution Lunch-Lecture Series
CLE Credits: None
Presented by the Kheel Center and the Pace Environmental Law Review (PELR), this lunch-lecture series is intended for students and the Pace community. As part of PELR’s first themed-issue on environmental dispute resolution, authors from the issue – Rachel Deming and Doug Hefferin - will present their ideas on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) within the environmental context. The event will also provide an introduction to the Kheel Center and will highlight new ADR courses offered for next year. A light lunch will be served.
When: Monday, March 23, 2009 (12:30 – 1:50 p.m.)
Where: C-202
Speakers:
Rachel E. Deming, Partner, Scarola Ellis LLP
Douglas J. Hefferin, Vice President, Environment, Health & Safety, Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation
Mediation of Administrative Environmental Matters
Outcomes, Opportunities, and Obstacles
CLE Credits: 3.5
Presented by
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and
The Kheel Center on the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes
Click here for program materials
(Please note, this is a large file. You may have to refresh your page or select this
link several times for the document to appear. We apologize for any inconvenience.)
Speakers will discuss the pros and cons of mediating various matters before Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). The first panel will cover mediation of environmental matters in federal and state agencies, including the US Environmental Protection Agency, US Department of Justice, and NYS Department of Public Service, and in rate cases in the states of Washington and Oregon. The second panel of NYSDEC ALJs will use case studies to demonstrate where opportunities for mediation exist in NYSDEC administrative environmental matters, how attorneys and staff can use mediation in these matters, and how mediation works.
When: June 5, 2009 (8:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)
Where: NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Room P.A. 129, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY
Audience: DEC Office of General Counsel, DEC technical staff, NYS AG’s Office, NYS Department of Public Service ALJs and attorneys from counsel’s office.
Speakers:
Alison Crocker, General Counsel, NYSDEC
Lester Levy, Esq., JAMS
Joan Leary Matthews, Associate Commissioner, Office of Hearings & Mediation Services, NYSDEC
Hon. James T. McClymonds, Chief Administrative Law Judge, Office of Hearings & Mediation Services, NYSDEC
Patricia A. McKenna, Esq., Senior Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Enforcement Section, Washington, D.C.
Hon. Daniel P. O’Connell, Administrative Law Judge, Office of Hearings & Mediation Services, NYSDEC
Joseph Siegel, Esq., Senior Attorney & Regional Alternative Dispute Resolution Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 2
Hon. Eleanor Stein, Administrative Law Judge, NYS Department of Public Service
James M. Van Nostrand, Esq., Executive Director, Pace Energy and Climate Center, Pace Law School
Hon. Maria E. Villa, Administrative Law Judge, Office of Hearings & Mediation Services, NYSDEC
Hon. Richard R. Wissler, Administrative Law Judge, Office of Hearings & Mediation Services, NYSDEC
2009 Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR)
Environment & Public Policy Section Conference
Managing Climate Change Through Collaborative Governance:
Addressing Policy Challenges Globally & Locally
The Environment and Public Policy Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution (EPP/ACR) and the University of Denver’s Conflict Resolution Institute will be convening practitioners of dispute management and collaborative decision-making, climate change policymakers, advocates, attorneys, and planners to participate as presenters in the 2009 Climate Change and Collaborative Governance Conference. The conference seeks to bring together individuals in the fields of environmental conflict resolution, collaborative decision-making, and deliberative democracy, with business, public/non-profit, scientists, and public officials from all levels of government to share knowledge of current tools for effective conflict management and collaborative decision-making around environmental and public policy issues. The conference will further explore innovative strategies and practices for resolving complex policy disputes and promoting collaborative decision-making; and develop a foundation for future efforts to apply dispute resolution and collaborative approaches to the management of climate change issues. This conference will explore potential paths to effectively respond to these emerging challenges and examine the practice of collaborative decision-making and conflict resolution not only from the perspective of climate change, where its usage is fairly recent, but also from the wide range of environmental and public policy issues that are part of our ongoing practice. The Kheel Center director John Nolon, and senior managing attorneys, Tiffany Zezula and Jessica Bacher will be discussing Creating Forums and Building Capacity to Manage Climate Change Conflicts.
When: June 11 - 13, 2009
Where: University of Denver
Click here for more information about this event
