The Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Michigan is proud to announce that the following individuals are recipients of the ADR Section’s major awards in 2026. The awardees were honored at the ADR Annual Awards Ceremony on Thursday, October 8, at Laurel Manor Banquet & Conference Center in Livonia.
Mary Aslanian Bedikian is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. The Distinguished Service Award is given in recognition of significant contributions to the field of dispute resolution. The section is pleased to honor Bedikian for her contributions to the field of dispute resolution in Michigan and beyond.
For more than five decades, Bedikian has helped shape the practice, teaching, administration, and professional understanding of alternative dispute resolution. She has contributed as an administrator of arbitration systems, a trainer of neutrals and advocates, a scholar, a teacher, a coach, a mediator, an arbitrator, and a leader in the State Bar of Michigan’s ADR community.
For more than five decades, Bedikian has helped shape the practice, teaching, administration, and professional understanding of alternative dispute resolution. She has contributed as an administrator of arbitration systems, a trainer of neutrals and advocates, a scholar, a teacher, a coach, a mediator, an arbitrator, and a leader in the State Bar of Michigan’s ADR community.
Phillip A. Schaedler is the 2026 recipient of the Nanci S. Klein Award, presented posthumously in recognition of his exemplary service in the field of community dispute resolution. A mediator, trainer, and longtime advocate for alternative dispute resolution, Schaedler regularly volunteered his time and services to the Dispute Resolution Center of Washtenaw County and Southeastern Dispute Resolution Services. He also served as a volunteer agricultural mediator through the Michigan Community Mediation Association, helping Michigan farmers and rural communities resolve disputes outside the courtroom and encouraging other mediators to volunteer.
Schaedler’s influence reached far beyond the matters he personally mediated. One of a small number of SCAO-certified trainers in general civil mediation, he also trained mediators in restorative conferencing, neglect and abuse mediation, and circle keeping. He wrote and taught about restorative justice and the use of mediation in families, schools, juvenile justice, and child protection proceedings.
Schaedler served in leadership roles with the Family Mediation Council-Michigan and the State Bar of Michigan’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, including as co-chair of the Section’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Team, and later served as executive director of Professional Resolution Experts of Michigan (PREMi). Through the mediators he trained, the organizations he strengthened, and the people he helped find common ground, Schaedler’s service continues to benefit communities throughout Michigan.
Schaedler’s influence reached far beyond the matters he personally mediated. One of a small number of SCAO-certified trainers in general civil mediation, he also trained mediators in restorative conferencing, neglect and abuse mediation, and circle keeping. He wrote and taught about restorative justice and the use of mediation in families, schools, juvenile justice, and child protection proceedings.
Schaedler served in leadership roles with the Family Mediation Council-Michigan and the State Bar of Michigan’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, including as co-chair of the Section’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Team, and later served as executive director of Professional Resolution Experts of Michigan (PREMi). Through the mediators he trained, the organizations he strengthened, and the people he helped find common ground, Schaedler’s service continues to benefit communities throughout Michigan.
Retired Judge Timothy P. Connors is the recipient of the Hero of ADR Award. Connors has spent more than three decades on the Michigan bench, founding the first state-court Peacemaking program of its kind in this state, authoring the foundational articles of the modern Peacemaking movement, teaching law students, judges, mediators, and peacemakers from Detroit to Vermont to Dublin, Ireland and leading the most respected tribal-state-federal judicial forum in the nation.
Adrienne Miller is the recipient of the Diversity and Inclusion Award in recognition of significant contributions concerning diversity and inclusion in the field of alternative dispute resolution. Miller is a dedicated restorative justice practitioner in our Michigan school system. She wears this hat as well as that of an educator, coach, mentor, and aspiring school social worker. Her work centers on empowering young people to thrive both academically and personally.
Lisa Timmons is the recipient of the George N. Bashara Jr. Award. This award is given in recognition of exemplary service to the Section and its members Timmons has been a member of the section since 2013. She joined the ADR Council in 2019. Timmons served as the chair of the ADR Section during the 2024-2025 bar year and as the chair of the Skills Action Team (SAT) for the 2025-2026 bar year. She was chair of the Diversity in Action Team (DIAT) during the 2022-2023 bar year and was instrumental in orchestrating the merger of this Action Team with the Skills Action Team during the 2024-2025 bar year.
Timmons has a been a regular presenter at the SBM ADR Annual Conference appearing on multiple panels during the conference for the past couple of years. One presentation that she has given for the past two years in a row is the Case Law Update, which gives viewers insight on the latest jurisprudence in ADR through the lens of describing the facts and legal issues of recently decided cases. She has also organized and participated in Lunch and Learn and the ADR Annual Summit programming.
In 2022, Timmons received the Hero of ADR Award, which is presented to a person or entity for supporting the ADR Section’s mission or the field of conflict resolution generally, by providing exemplary assistance.
For additional information about the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Michigan, visit www.sbmadrconference.com.
Timmons has a been a regular presenter at the SBM ADR Annual Conference appearing on multiple panels during the conference for the past couple of years. One presentation that she has given for the past two years in a row is the Case Law Update, which gives viewers insight on the latest jurisprudence in ADR through the lens of describing the facts and legal issues of recently decided cases. She has also organized and participated in Lunch and Learn and the ADR Annual Summit programming.
In 2022, Timmons received the Hero of ADR Award, which is presented to a person or entity for supporting the ADR Section’s mission or the field of conflict resolution generally, by providing exemplary assistance.
For additional information about the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Michigan, visit www.sbmadrconference.com.
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