Dispute resolution champions to be honored at ABA meeting

Leaders in dispute resolution, including a U.S. congressional committee, the CEO of a global mediation web site and a conflict resolution group focused on youth and communities, will be honored during the American Bar Association 25th Annual Dispute Resolution Spring Conference on May 11 at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

The honorees are:

• Colin Rule, CEO of Resourceful Internet Solutions Inc., home of Mediate.com, the world’s leading mediation website, MediateUniversity.com, Arbitrate.com,
CaseloadManager.com and a number of other online dispute resolution initiatives, is the 2023 D’Alemberte Raven Award recipient. Rule previously served as vice president for online dispute resolution at Tyler Technologies and was director of online dispute resolution for eBay and Paypal. He co-founded Online Resolution in 1999, one of the first online dispute resolution providers, and served as its CEO and president. He received the first Frank Sander Award for Innovation in ADR from the ABA in 2020 and the Mary Parker Follett Award from the Association for Conflict Resolution in 2013. He holds a master’s degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in conflict resolution and technology, a graduate certificate in dispute resolution from UMass-Boston and a B.A. from Haverford College.

The D’Alemberte-Raven Award honors Talbot D’Alemberte and Robert D. Raven, who each held the unique position of being both ABA presidents and chairs of either the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution or its predecessor.

• The House Select Committee on Modernization of Congress, the 2023 recipient of the Frank E.A. Sander Award, was established by House Resolution 6 in Jan. 2019, and is tasked to investigate, study, make findings, hold public hearings and develop recommendations to make Congress more effective, efficient and transparent on behalf of the American people. The Select Committee is one of the only truly bipartisan committees in Congress, with an equal number of Republican and Democratic members.

The Sander Award is presented to those who have achieved innovation in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution.

• The Western Justice Center, the 2023 JAMS Foundation award recipient, empowers people to strengthen their communities by growing the conflict resolution skills and capacity of youth, educators, schools and community partners. The center aims to build a healthy democracy by equipping the next generation with tools to confront, embrace the complexities of and resolve conflicts. Their work inspires young people to become conflict-adept leaders who can shift the culture and climate in their schools and communities and offers an antidote to the politics of division gripping our nation.

The JAMS Foundation 2023 Warren Knight Distinguished Service Award recognizes the work of extraordinary individuals and organizations in promoting and advancing collaborative forms of dispute resolution. Named in honor of JAMS founder H. Warren Knight, a pioneer in the development of alternative dispute resolution, the award honors recipients’ commitment to helping prevent and resolve conflict in the communities they serve.