Welcome to the Dispute Resolution Section
By Dear members of the NCBA Dispute Resolution Section and other members of NCBA:
The new bar year has begun! Welcome to the 2025-2026 bar year of the NCBA. I come to you as a humble servant, being asked to sit as the chair of this year’s Dispute Resolution Section. I look forward to continuing to build a strong section that serves as a crossover with several other sections of the NCBA. Those who came before me have done a tremendous amount of work raising awareness about the importance of conflict resolution and using all tools available to us as attorneys to counsel and advocate for our clients.
This year, I am thrilled to report we are continuing with our successful roundtable discussions. The first is being held September 17, 2025. These roundtable discussions were wildly successful last year, and we hope to continue the momentum this year! And, if you have any suggestions for topics to discuss, please reach out to me or to George Doyle, who is coordinating the roundtable discussions for us this year.
We are also continuing our successful “try someone new” campaign and plan to offer scholarships for mediation training again this year. Trying someone new in mediation helps all of us in our communities as it promotes diversity in mediation by encouraging legal practitioners to consider mediators of color for their cases.
One of my goals as chair of this section is to increase the diversity within our section of already phenomenal dispute resolution practitioners. Another of my goals is to encourage younger attorneys to recognize the benefit of dispute resolution short of expensive and protracted litigation and to engage the younger attorneys earlier in their careers. My hope is that younger attorneys will join our section, in addition to their practice area section.
I am privileged to be serving you as this year’s chair, and I look forward to all of you helping me achieve the goals I have set for myself this year.
I also want to thank each of the dedicated members of our section who continue to be leaders in our community, both within the bar, and within your respective local communities. Your knowledge, dedication, and spirit are what keeps our section important to the ever-changing needs of our profession. And, to our staff, you truly are the glue that keeps us together – thank you.
Together, as we embark on this new bar year, please reach out to me any time with ideas, suggestions, or just to say hello. I look forward to another good year for the Dispute Resolution Section. Thank you for your confidence in me.