Famous mediator Kenneth Feinberg’s entire videotaped speech is being released months after the Ohio Supreme Court’s Dispute Resolution Conference was postponed over coronavirus concerns.

Famous mediator Kenneth Feinberg’s entire videotaped speech is being released months after the Ohio Supreme Court’s Dispute Resolution Conference was postponed over coronavirus concerns.

Mediators are known for being resourceful. When the Ohio Supreme Court’s Dispute Resolution Conference was postponed on March 10 due to coronavirus concerns, organizers April Nelson and Dr. Adonis Bolden jumped into action.

After all, more than 500 judges, magistrates, court personnel, attorneys, mediators, scholars, law students, Supreme Court staff, and dispute resolution professionals were signed up for the conference. With so many people planning to attend, Nelson and Bolden were forced to improvise.

Nelson, a long-time juvenile court mediator, and Bolden, an assistant school principal in Delaware County, spearheaded the Dispute Resolution Section’s “Civility and Solutions” podcasts, a program to address the topics that were scheduled to be presented live during the conference via two plenary and 36 breakout sessions.

Sessions designed to be in person were moved online to address the wide range of topics pertinent to developing exceptional skills, innovative techniques, and creative dispute resolution designs and programs in today’s courts.

Nelson and Bolden highlighted the use of school mediation to strengthen academic and family relationships, a topic of increased significance in the ongoing health crisis. As schools deliberate how to safely reopen for the 2020-2021 school year, Nelson and Bolden drew on their years of experience to discuss considerations impacting student attendance issues addressed by courts and schools.

The podcasts are the latest of many presentations from the conference now being delivered online. Acclaimed attorney Ken Feinberg delivered his keynote address online, and national speakers Nancy Welsh and Merril Hirsh delivered their presentation on the use of special masters in state courts virtually. These addresses, along with additional conference presentations, will be posted on the conference Web page.