Reminder: Upcoming Panel on the Pilot Mandatory Mediation Program in the New York County Commercial Division

This is a reminder that on April 9, 2015, the Commercial Division Sub-Committee of the NYSBA Commercial and Federal Litigation Section will host a panel on the pilot mandatory mediation program in New York County's Commercial Division. In that program, 20 percent of Commercial Division cases will randomly be assigned to mediation upon filing of an RJI.

The panel will begin at 6:00 PM and will be held at the offices of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (825 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY). The panel will include New York County Commercial Division ADR Coordinator Simone Abrams, Senior Settlement Coordinator Kevin Egan, and Simeon Baum, a leading mediator. There will be a short reception immediately following the event.

The panel is open to members of the public as well as Commercial Division Sub-Committee members. If you would like to attend, please contact Nancy Kordell at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (nkordell@cravath.com).

The meeting announcement to sub-committee members, which has more details, is repeated below:

Please join us for a special meeting of the Commercial Division Committee to discuss the implementation of the pilot mandatory mediation program in New York County's commercial division. It will be held on April 9th at 6:00 pm at the offices of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (825 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY). Please see below for a short description of the program and the guest panelists who will be joining us.

As many of you know, the New York County Commercial Division recently implemented a pilot mandatory early mediation program, pursuant to which one out of every five cases is randomly assigned to mandatory mediation upon filing of an RJI. The program is administered by and is closely patterned on the Commercial Division's existing ADR Program. Our next meeting will present the opportunity for relevant court staff, mediators, and practitioners to discuss the implementation of the program thus far. We will be joined by a distinguished panel, including: New York County Commercial Division ADR Coordinator Simone Abrams, Senior Settlement Coordinator Kevin Egan, and experienced mediator Simeon Baum. Our panelists look forward to sharing their perspectives on the roll-out of the mandatory mediation pilot program and to hearing the view of our members concerning that process.

We are very excited to be able to present this panel, which will – with your participation – bring together the key constituencies associated with the pilot program. We hope that many of you will attend (either in person at the Cravath offices or by video conference) and take part in the discussion.