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WINTER 2026

Dear Young Professional,

As we slowly emerge from a true winter of snow and cold weather in the northeastern United States, I hope this message finds you well in your corner of the globe. Thank you for being part of our Y-ADR community!

During the last few months, the Y-ADR Steering Committee contributed to three of CPR Institute’s iconic flagship events: the CPR Annual Meeting, which was held this year in San Diego (February 2026), the CPR+USP (University of São Paulo) conference (March 2026), and the CPR International Mediation Competition (IMC) held again in São Paulo (March 2026).

During the Annual Meeting, Y-ADR had the opportunity to connect with seasoned practitioners from the US and across the globe for two days of substantive panels and networking opportunities. At the CPR+USP conference, we connected with Brazilian and international students, business leaders, judiciary, mediators and neutrals, and the leading legal practitioners to explore the topic of dispute prevention in a dynamic World Café style to better understand this important preventative approach to conflicts from the various viewpoints of our stakeholder groups. And most recently, during CPR’s annual mediation competition in Brazil, we focused our efforts on supporting the next generation of mediators and negotiators from around the world as they displayed enormous talent and incredibly collaborative approaches to resolving a highly complex business dispute that unfolded new facts and challenges over the course of six rounds of live competition.

We are proud to welcome this new group of problem solvers to the Y-ADR community and invite them to take advantage of all that is available to them by joining as a CPR Institute member!

Our Y-ADR initiative is designed to support young professionals looking to enrich their professional experience with mediation, arbitration, and other dispute-prevention tools, and to create opportunities for meaningful connection throughout our global network. In furtherance of this goal, we are proud to present in the coming weeks another two great opportunities for our Y-ADR members: (1) Networking with In-house Counsel event at Paris Arbitration Week (Paris, March 24, 2026); and (2) Speed Mentoring – DC Edition! (Washington, D.C., April 22, 2026). We hope to see you!

As always, please send me a note to let me know how Y-ADR can help you. We would love to hear from you and hope to see you at a Y-ADR event soon.

Knar A. Nahikian, Esq.

CPR Institute - VP, Global Initiatives



Erin Klewin

Danone

Senior Litigation Counsel

Angela Healey

General Dynamics Corporation

Assistant General Counsel 
and Director

Thank you, Carol Hannud and Y-ADR Steering Committee member Isabella Rangel da Silva of EY Law for leading the organization of this wonderfully collaborative and community building event that serves as the kick-off event for CPR’s IMC Week in Brazil. Also, thank you to USP - Universidade de São Paulo Professor Carlos Alberto De Salles for this valuable partnership between CPR and USP, and to our speakers, sponsors and supporting organizations!

The in-house counsel group shared their experiences with litigation and why mediation makes so much sense when resolving disputes as well as a summary of best practices for preventing and managing disputes. Attendees listened in on expert-led discussions in the following categories: Judicial, In-house, Law firms and Neutrals (including mediators). 

Learn more about our amazing speakers and the event itself below.

Thank you to the IMC Organizing Committee, it would not have been possible without your support!

Co-Chairs​

Diego Faleck, Faleck & Associados ​

Knar Nahikian, CPR Institute

Vice-Chairs​

Franco Gevaerd, Gevaerd & Associados​

Giulia Spalletta, Souto Correa Advogados​

Marciele Almeida, MWAlmeida Advocacia

Problem Writing Team ​

Lead: Roberto Baumgarten Kuster, Faleck & Associados

Álvaro Scarpellini Campos, Cesar Peres, Dulac Müller Advogados​

Kyle Thomason, Pfizer​

Renata Aurora Bochini da Silva, National Basketball Association (NBA) ​

Mariana Mente, BVZ - Bastos | Bari | Vilela | Zugman Advogados 

A shout out to our Y-ADR Steering Committee members who contributed: Giulia Spalletta, Vice Chair, Souto Correa Advogados, Tatevik Kechiyants, T|K Mediation, Bettina Gomes Omizzolo, Mosimann-Horn Advogados and Isabella Rangel da Silva, EY Law.

Organized by CPR Institute's Y-ADR Steering Committee in collaboration with CPR Institute's European Advisory Board as part of the Paris Arbitration Week. Join us for cocktails in a fun and fast-paced evening of lively conversation and curated networking designed to highlight the important role of in-house counsel in the disputes process.

Speakers include:

Alina Leoveanu, Atos

Dr. Max Thümmel, Bayer AG

Torsten Bartsch, former AGC at Caterpillar

Elizabeth Hincapié Hincapié, Toshiba

Maria Gritsenko, Exante

Erica Dorst, Shell

Carla Meza Caballero, Kia Europe GmbH

Giovanna Rosato, In-House Counsel

With organization and welcome by:

Knar A. Nahikian, CPR Institute

Velislava Hristova, Hogan Lovells

Sara Little, Orrick

Join the Young Leaders in Alternative Dispute Resolution (Y-ADR) Steering Committee for an

in-person “Speed Mentoring” event on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, from 6 PM to 8 PM ET at

Foley Hoag.

Now in its fourth year and continuing on the success of last year's NYC-based program, our popular "Speed Mentoring" series will now be offered for practitioners in the Washington DC area! This is an In-Person Event - no remote option is available for this event.

Thank you for attending the CPR 2026 Annual Meeting! We hope you had a wonderful time and connected with some new and old friends.

Some of the Y-ADR Leadership team were able to meet up at the Annual Meeting.

In these interviews, we speak with attorneys and others in the conflict management field, from in-house corporate counsel to ombuds. Each interviewee is asked to share their perspectives on dispute resolution mechanisms and their advice for young practitioners.

This series is part of Y-ADR’s goal of educating the next generation of leaders on the full spectrum of dispute prevention and resolution mechanisms and to provide an insider’s view into how CPR’s community of corporate counsel, law firm counsel, and other experts in the field are using dispute prevention and resolution techniques to manage conflict to enable purpose.

Selecting rules that are tailored to your specific dispute can save you valuable time and resources. That’s why CPR Dispute Resolution Services offers Specialty Rules crafted by industry experts and real-world users who understand the challenges.

CPR Dispute Resolution Services also offers industry-specific rules for complex sectors such as employment, construction, and intellectual property.

It’s just one more reason why businesses choose CPR Dispute Resolution Services: 

practical, efficient solutions that reflect the real world of dispute resolution.

The CPR Institute is grateful to our members and law student interns for their valuable contributions!

Culture-Conscious AI for Conflict Resolution Coaching

By Ellen Kim & Mo-Yun Lei Fong

Alternatives has moved!

All CPR members receive a free subscription to Alternatives.

NEW! Alternatives is now available to CPR members directly through the CPR website at cpradr.org/alternatives-newsletter. Members need to be logged in to the CPR website, cpradr.org, to access each issue starting with March 2024.

For assistance setting up your log-in credentials, please email Micah Seigel, Programming & Membership Manager, at mseigel@cpradr.org.

Alternatives has moved from Wiley and can now be found on the CPR website here.

Not a member? Join CPR today.