GCLC VIRTUAL

CIVIL COLLABORATIVE LAW

CONFERENCE

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

beginning at 12:00 pm Eastern Time

Join us for an afternoon of networking and learning with GCLC faculty and friends, featuring keynote speaker David Hoffman of Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. Agenda, faculty bios and registration are below.

David's hour will be the centerpiece of the conference, which will feature additional creative conflict resolution tips:

Noon Eastern: Alex Carrascosa and Glenn Meier

“Use of the Arts in Conflict Resolution”  

1:30 pm Eastern: Paul Faxon and HR&A Advisors

"A Neutral Real Estate Expert Walks into a

Third-Generation Family Realty Business in Conflict and..."

2:40 pm Eastern: David Hoffman keynote

3:45 pm Eastern: Daniel Berstein

"Beyond Labels: Non-Stigmatizing Tools to Address

Mental Health Concerns in Collaborative Law"

4:45 pm Eastern: Wrap up

Noon Eastern: Alex Carrascosa and Glenn Meier

“Use of the Arts in Conflict Resolution”  

Glenn Meier spent over 25 years helping small and medium-sized business leaders navigate the civil litigation system. During that time, he witnessed firsthand how challenging the system is for those clients to navigate. One of Glenn's biggest frustrations was the lack of meaningful alternatives for companies that wanted to manage their business conflict creatively and collaboratively.

Glenn now works with clients in diverse settings to help them have collaborative disagreements and manage their business conflicts proactively and productively. This work helps clients transform their conflicts into opportunities for growth and innovation while strengthening their essential business relationships.

A musician and bass player who struggles with intermittent funk deficiency, Glenn brings countless musical lessons into his conflict work. In a nod to the first concert he ever attended (Simon & Garfunkle, Dodger Stadium, August 27, 1983), Glenn describes his work as "helping people build bridges over troubled waters."

Glenn will be joined by special guest Alex Carrascosa to present an interactive and engaging session on "Use of Arts in Conflict Resolution."

1:30 pm Eastern: HR&A Advisors and Paul Faxon:

"A Neutral Real Estate Expert Walks into a Third-Generation Family Realty Business in Conflict and..."

Making real estate strategy and development decisions that optimize financial returns and align with community values is a complex undertaking. These decisions become more challenging when a family owned and managed business controls the  real estate asset in question and when stakeholders span the gamut of real estate knowledge. Our panel of urban planners and real estate advisors will present and discuss case studies of real estate and community conflicts, and how to navigate these challenges through a jointly retained neutral-expert’s engagement to achieve informed decision-making, alignment, and positive outcomes for all parties.

Working at the intersection of the public and private sectors, Erin Lonoff leverages her experience with real estate, urban planning, and economics to contribute to the vitality of cities and the public realm. Her work includes leveraging transit development plans for inclusive economic growth and dense, resilient development, creating large-scale, long-range master plans that will have critical economic and fiscal benefits for communities, and developing funding, financing, and governance strategies for open spaces and parks. Recent work includes supporting UW-Madison’s West Campus Innovation District Plan, leading the financial analysis and guiding the overall vision and partnership strategy on behalf of the university; leading the master planning and real estate strategy, and managing the design and engineering teams for the development a 600-acre site in Greenville, SC; and developing economic impact analyses on behalf of developers seeking public-private partnerships and entitlements for unprecedented development projects.

Kate Collignon draws on over 20 years of public and private sector experience to shape and manage implementation of equitable downtown, waterfront, and neighborhood revitalization strategies; to craft district and campus plans that fuel innovation and economic development; and to strategically support non-profit and academic institutions in achieving their mission-based and financial goals. Kate develops master plans, feasibility studies, and market analysis, often collaborating with public and private stakeholders to drive redevelopment, support economic inclusion, and promote equitable growth. Prior to joining the firm, Kate served as a Development Director with Brookfield Properties, a global asset manager, owner, and developer, where she managed commercial and mixed-use development projects in Manhattan and across the country. She also served as Senior Vice President in charge of large-scale planning and development initiatives with the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Candace Damon is the Chair of HR&A Advisors, Inc. and has over 35 years of experience in the management of complex, public-private real estate and economic development activity. Candace has devoted her career to developing sustainable urban redevelopment strategies in cities across North America. Her specific areas of expertise include supporting master planning efforts for large-scale revitalizations, including downtowns and waterfronts; ensuring the long-term viability of urban open space; leading organizational planning for non-profits, and institutions. She is a highly sought-after voice for her work supporting place-based development, her contributions exemplified in Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Atlanta Beltline, Kansas City Greenline, among many others, all of which remain enduring and cherished assets for the communities they serve.

Paul Faxon, J.D. practices in the areas of closely-held and family business law, commercial real estate transactions, and legal conflict assessment and resolution. He has taught at New England Law School and Boston College Law School. He also serves as a Senior Consultant with Continuity Family Business Consulting. Paul has been involved in Collaborative Law for many years and served as an attorney in one of the first cases to apply Collaborative Law to a business dispute. He is a past President of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council and has served on the Board of the Global Collaborative Law Council. Paul has presented numerous times at the International Association of Collaborative Professional’s North American and European annual conferences and published articles on Collaborative Law topics in trade and professional journals. He has also spoken on conflict resolution at the Family Firm Institute’s and Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises’ national conferences, as well as the annual meeting of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section. Paul has served as a presenter as well as leader at numerous Collaborative Law trainings, including in Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Spain, Italy and Holland.   

2:40 pm Eastern: David Hoffman Keynote:

"Thinking Outside the Box:

One of our Collaborative Super Powers!"

David Hoffman will lead “Thinking Outside the Box: One of Our Collaborative Super-Powers!” in an interactive discussion of creativity in conflict resolution. Some of the techniques that he will present are adjusted-winner auctions, structured appraisal processes, bracketed/baseball arbitration for impasse-breaking, and non-binding case evaluation. Please bring your tried-and-true outside-the-box techniques to share.

David A. Hoffman is the John H. Watson, Jr. Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, where he teaches three courses: Mediation; Diversity and Dispute Resolution; and Legal Profession: Collaborative Law. David is also an attorney, mediator, arbitrator, and founding member of Boston Law Collaborative, LLC, where he handles cases involving family, business, employment, and other disputes. Prior to founding Boston Law Collaborative in 2003, David was a litigation partner at the Boston firm Hill & Barlow, where he practiced for 17 years. He is past-chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, a founding member of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council, and has published three books (including “Bringing Peace into the Room,” with co-editor Daniel Bowling). David is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. David lives in a cohousing community in Acton, Massachusetts with his wife, Leslie Warner. They have five adult children, an adolescent cat, and a rescued golden retriever.  More information about David can be found at www.blc.law

3:45 pm Eastern: Daniel Berstein

"Beyond Labels: Non-Stigmatizing Tools to Address

Mental Health Concerns in Collaborative Law"

Historically, prominent collaborative law experts have published guidance questioning whether someone's mental illness diagnosis may mean they are not an appropriate case. However, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) often makes it illegal to assess someone's possible disability or use it as a reason to deny service. This workshop helps practitioners move beyond labels so we can empower all parties, regardless of whether they may qualify for a psychiatric diagnosis. Receive tools to be trauma-informed, bias-resistant, and accessible. Be ready to navigate client distress as well as your own, and set appropriate boundaries for challenging behaviors without writing anyone off because of their trauma or potential mental health problems.

Dan Berstein has worked for over a decade developing tools to help legal practitioners, courts, and government agencies across the country talk about mental health, become accessible to people with disabilities, and address challenging behaviors. A mediator living with bipolar disorder, he wrote the book on Mental Health and Conflicts (published by the American Bar Association), developed a trauma-informed and bias-resistant resource platform for courts (funded by the American Arbitration Association - International Centre for Dispute Resolution Foundation), and created a model for inclusive mental health stakeholder engagement as part of the National Dialogue on Mental Health. Dan leads the Mental Health Safe Project’s advocacy work encouraging organizations to update or remove discriminatory policies and practices, and teaching people with mental health problems how to use conflict resolution skills to speak up when they are mistreated. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School and a master’s degree in Mental Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

REGISTER

HERE!

GCLC members and allied group members $75

Nonmembers $110

Not sure if you are an allied group? Email Melanie Atha at melatha65@gmail.com and we can get you connected. We offer one FREE admission for a member of an allied group, in exchange for an opportunity for GCLC to offer an hour of civil collaborative teaching to your membership. Be in touch for details!

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