Committee Profile - Dispute Resolution Committee

• Pages: 5-5
• Date: 01 April 2025
• Published date: 01 April 2025
• Author: Steven Schulwolf

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Prole

By Steven Schulwolf

The American Bar Association (ABA) Tort Trial and

Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) Dispute Resolution

Committee is an active committee that provides a

forum for outstanding neutrals—arbitrators and mediators—to

improve their craft.We have well-attended monthly meetings

where we discuss cutting-edge issues related to alternative

dispute resolution (ADR). Many of those meetings have guest

speakers who provide their perspectives on mediation and

arbitration.

TIPS has many substantive committees with experts

in various niche areas of the law. But what do all of those

distinct committees have in common? The vast majority of

their disputes settle. And even when they do not, clients often

prefer arbitration as a faster, more cost-eective alternative to

litigation. That’s where we come in.The Dispute Resolution

Committee is dedicated to increasing the value we provide

not only to our members but to all TIPS members.

Along those lines, we have increased collaboration eorts

with other committees and ABA Sections.Within the last

year, we cosponsored a panel at the TIPS Insurance Coverage

Litigation Committee annual meeting in La Jolla, and we

presented a two-part risk assessment series with the Early

Dispute Resolution Committee of the ABA Dispute Resolu-

tion Section. Our members have presented during meetings

for other TIPS committees, and we have invited guests to our

own meetings.

We have a great newsletter, spearheaded by editor Rich

Mason. In addition to getting out several editions each

year, we frequently have free “Meet the Authors” webinars

where people can informally ask questions and discuss issues

addressed in the articles.

The Dispute Resolution Committee is dedicated to

improving, and one of our goals is to provide more networking

opportunities for ADR providers to interact with ADR con-

sumers. We do not want to be seen as a group of mediators, but

rather as a group that discusses mediation. The best discussions

involve the viewpoints of all stakeholders. So, if you are a litiga-

tor who mediates, we invite you to our meetings on the fourth

Thursday of every month at 4:00 p.m. Central time.

Dispute Resolution Committee

Steven Schulwolf is the founder of Schulwolf Mediation in Austin,

Texas, and chair of the TIPS Dispute Resolution Committee. He has

over 25 years of experience litigating high-dollar, complex commercial

disputes, including insurance coverage for environmental and mass

torts, bad faith, and construction defects. He may be reached at steve@

schulwolfmediation.com.

We also realize that our committee is not the Mediation

Committee; it is the Dispute Resolution Committee. So

we also provide programs about arbitration. For example, we

conducted a two-part webinar focused on the nuts and bolts of

arbitration.

Finally, we are excited to be planning our rst-ever national

in-person conference. Mark your calendars: September 16 in

Chicago.The program will have attorneys, mediators, arbitrators,

judges, and in-house professionals from around the country.

Highlights include:

• Neutrals of high-prole matters, including Trump v. ABC

News, the Flint Michigan water cases, and the Colum-

bine shootings

• Early dispute resolution, data-driven negotiations, and

“double-blind” mediations

• Lessons from reducing tensions after the George Floyd

murder

Hear from attorneys who represent plaintis, defendants,

policyholders, and insurers, both from rms and in-house.

Afterward, we will have some great networking opportuni-

ties. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago and at our

monthly meetings. Z

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VOLUME 54, NUMBER 3, SPRING 2025. © 2025 BY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION. REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS INFORMATION OR ANY PORTION THEREOF MAY

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