Mary A. Bedikian
Mary A. Bedikian is Professor of Law in Residence and Director of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program at Michigan State University – College of Law. She is responsible for developing the curriculum pieces for a full-fledged ADR program, teaching, researching and writing in ADR, creating external training programs, and offering professional consulting services in ADR systems design. She previously served as District Vice-President of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) – Detroit Regional Office. The office provides arbitration and mediation services, education and training programs, election services, and ADR consulting.
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Since 1981, Ms. Bedikian has mediated hundreds of cases involving civil claims. In 1995, she was appointed by then Chief Judge Doctoroff of the Michigan Court of Appeals to serve as one of 28 mediators statewide to conduct post-verdict mediations. Ms. Bedikian has also served as neutral arbitrator in employment cases.
A frequent lecturer and trainer, Ms. Bedikian makes presentations in ADR to hundreds of neutrals and attorneys each year. Specialty training programs include negotiation and mediation training for district court judges (1985; 1986); mediation training for Oakland County Settlement Week (1991; 1996); facilitative training for the Michigan Court of Appeals Pilot ADR Program (1995; 1996); Boeing Corporation Facilitators (1997; 1998); Oakland County Circuit Court Facilitative Mediation Training (1996; 1999); Prudential Remediation Plan Neutrals’ Training (1998; 1999); and, AAA Employment Arbitrator Training (1997; 1998; 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002).
In addition to her lecture and training activities, Ms. Bedikian is well published. In 1988, she won First Prize in the Sixth Annual National Labor Law Writing Competition sponsored by the Detroit College of Law for "Riding on the Horns of a Dilemma: The Law of Contract v. Public Policy in the Enforcement of Labor Arbitral Awards." Ms. Bedikian also wrote the chapter titled, "Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution" for LITIGATING THE COMMERCIAL CASE, published by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in 1992. In 1994, she co-authored MICHIGAN PLEADING AND PRACTICE, Vol. 8A (Callaghan: Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, 2d ed. 1994), with Thomas L. Gravelle, Esq. She also co-authored a second practice book with Judge Richard A. Enslen and Pamela Chapman Enslen titled, ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (West, 1998).
Memberships include the State Bar of Michigan, the American Bar Association, and the Oakland County Bar Association. She is the former Chair (1995/96) of the State Bar Section on Alternative Methods of Dispute Resolution, from which she received the Distinguished Service Award for Contributions to the Field of ADR.
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Ed Hartfield
Edward F. Hartfield is the Executive Director of the National Center for Dispute Settlement (NCDS). He has been involved as a dispute resolution professional for over 30 years, including Commissioner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and as a Member of the Federal Service Impasses Panel, a seven-person panel established to resolve disputes in the Federal Government. Edward has also served as the International President of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR), and as a State Mediator for the New Jersey Office of Dispute Settlement.
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Edward mediates employment disputes in the public and private sector, and frequently helps organize and design ADR systems to resolve disputes in a cost-effective fashion. He has conducted training programs in the Mutual Gains Approach to Negotiation and Problem-Solving for union-management clients throughout the country. Ed has authored numerous articles on labor relations including, "The Secret of Movement," "The Neutral Makes the Difference," and "Becoming a Neutral".
Having lived and worked in Japan for a number of years, Edward regularly trains Western and Japanese companies in how to negotiate and do business with one another, and has a forthcoming book on U.S.-Japan negotiations. Edward is listed in several directories of Japan and Asia specialists, including On the Record: A Media Directory of Japan Specialists in the United States and Japan, and Access Asia: A Guide to Specialists and Current Research.
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Michael Nowakowski
Michael G. Nowakowski is an attorney, mediator and instructor with over three decades of experience in labor relations, employment matters and general arbitration. He has been involved in the traditional negotiation of collective bargaining agreements, as well as the new forms of collaborative bargaining. The resolution of disputes through mediation and the prevention of them through training, education and relationship building has been his focus in working for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington, D.C., Cleveland, OH, and Detroit, MI.
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Mike is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, and a former Chairperson of its Labor and Employment Law Section as well as a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. He also is a member of the Industrial Relations Research Association, and a past president of the Detroit Chapter.
Training and teaching experience includes serving on the faculty of several colleges and universities such as Wayne State University (The Wayne Law School, Master of Arts in Industrial Relations and Master of Arts in Dispute Resolution?teaching courses in Negotiation, Employment Relations Law and Dispute Resolution); Cooley Law School?Course on Alternative Dispute Resolution; Central Michigan University, Michigan State University, and Oakland University?teaching courses in Labor Relations, Collective Bargaining and Labor Law, and Employment Regulations and Benefits. Mike has been involved in the training of mediators in Europe for the Polish Government.
Mike also serves on the Advisory Board for the EEOC/ADR program in Detroit, the ICLE Mediation Advisory Board, has been certified as a mediator for the Wayne and Oakland County Circuit Courts. Mike also serves on the Board of the Association for Conflict Resolution (Detroit Chapter), the Dispute Resolution Association of Michigan, and is the Chair of the Oakland County Bar Association's ADR Committee. Mr. Nowakowski has mediated over a thousand labor and employment disputes in more than twenty-nine years as a mediator and has been named as one of the "Best Lawyers In America - ADR".
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Craig Olson
Craig Olson is a Senior Vice President with the National Center for Dispute Settlement (NCDS). Craig has an A.A. degree from Jamestown Community College and a B.S. degree from S.U.N.Y. at Brockport including a certification program in secondary education. Craig had served as an independent arbitrator for over 15 years and had the privilege of serving as a court mediator in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
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Craig has been involved with training arbitrators for more than 20 years. Craig’s experience includes Professional Certification as a New York State Code Enforcement Officer, Real Estate Sales Person in New York State, 16 plus years in residential construction, Private Home Inspector, and past arbitrator for CAS, NCDS and AAA. He was a past board member of the New Jersey Chapter of SPIDR (Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution), and is currently on the Advisory Committee for the Automotive/Diesel Technology Department at Cedar Valley College.
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Debbie Lech Shubnell
Debbie is the Operations Manager for the National Center for Dispute Settlement. Ms. Lech is active in the recruitment of arbitrators and mediators for NCDS, and participates in developing and conducting training programs for new and existing arbitrators and mediators. Debbie is also responsible for the content and quality of NCDS’ online education program, as well as conducting training sessions on the issues of customer service, quality, diversity, dispute resolution, communication skills, and difficult conversations.
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She has also facilitated presentations before members of Minnesota and Michigan realtors, real estate continuing education facilities, home warranty companies and various court systems. Ms. Lech has been instrumental in the development of the Domestic Relations Mediation and Arbitration Program with NCDS.
Debbie came to NCDS in July, 2005 after having spent the prior 28 years being employed in the private legal sector as a Paralegal and Legal Administrator, specializing in domestic relations, general law practice management, and office administration. Debbie holds an Associate Degree of Applied Science as a Legal Assistant from Macomb County Community College, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Northwood University and a Master of Science in Management and Administration from Central Michigan University. She is also a member of the State Bar of Michigan (Alternative Dispute Resolution, Family Law, Paralegal, and Real Property Sections), the Macomb County Bar Association, the Paralegal Advisory Board of Baker College Clinton Township, the Association for Conflict Resolution (National and Southeast Michigan Chapter - Board Member) and the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals (SOCAP).
Authored: "Paralegals and Alternative Dispute Resolution: Other Career Options", Legal Assistants Section, State Bar of Michigan, 2007, Volume 1 (cited in: "Alternate Dispute Resolution Broadens Horizons and Spawns Creativity", by Maddalena R. Zefferino, Litigation Update, American Bar Association Section of Litigation, 2008).
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Calvin Smith
Calvin R. Smith owns and operates a private mediation service in the Dallas Metropolitan Area since 2003, after retiring from over 35 years of Federal service. He is also an Adjunct Professor for the U. S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School and serves as a Contract Professor teaching federal employees their duties and responsibilities related to Civil Rights Law, Equal Employment Opportunities, and Diversity. Mr. Smith serves as Vice-Chairman on the Board of Directors of Liberty One Credit Union, and serves as CEO and President for the non-profit Carrollton-Farmers Branch Basketball and Volleyball Association.
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From 1998 to 2003, Mr. Smith served as a District Director for Civil Rights and Diversity for the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and directed day-to-day operations for all states in the Midwestern Region. Calvin designed and implemented civil rights programs for the Internal Revenue Service, and served on the design team that developed an alternative dispute resolution system for the entire IRS EEO Program. Mr. Smith wrote and disseminated guidelines for the IRS Disability Awareness program, as well as developed the interview matrix for hiring into the IRS.
Calvin graduated from Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland and attended Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C. specializing in Civil Rights Law.
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