What a year! Looking back, the DR Section had the opportunity to hold several milestone events to advance the work of dispute resolution. The Executive worked hard to put these events together and build momentum as a national section and community. These events included significant professional development, including our first podcast episode. This year I am glad to report we held our first in-person officers’ meeting since before COVID. This meeting took place in Ottawa at the CBA national office in June.
Our National DR Section boasts an incredibly hard-working and positive-minded group of lawyers, and it has been a privilege to serve this year as your National Chair. Please consider getting involved in the Section’s work if you have not already – this is a great group of people!
This year we’ve been able to revive projects that bring like-minded lawyers and professionals together in the dispute resolution field. To paraphrase what Margaret Mead has said, never underestimate what a group of dedicated individuals can do. Here’s proof!
- Marked the change of the National Section’s name to Dispute Resolution (DR) from Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to reflect the core nature of the DR field (provincial branches may choose to optionally change from ADR to DR)
- Hosted a successful professional development webinar in October 2023 called “Mediating Complex Class Action Disputes”
- Released our inaugural podcast episode on the Every Lawyer, called the Masters of Mediation with over 600 listens and counting!
- Re-established partnerships with the ADR Institute of Canada (ADRIC) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Dispute Resolution Section with participation at the National ADRIC Conference in Halifax in October 2023 and the ABA Dispute Resolution Spring Conference in San Diego
- Hosted a successful second annual online symposium in May 2024 called Mediation as a Critical Tool in Practice with a wide variety of esteemed professionals from B.C., Alberta, and Ontario
- Revived our newsletter publications and LinkedIn page
- Facilitated our first in-person Executive meeting since before COVID in Ottawa in June 2024.
I would like to thank all our incredible National Section Executive volunteers from the professional development committee to the advocacy committee to the communications committee to everyone’s regular attendance and participation. Your contributions made a difference this year, and it matters! We were successful in our request to hold our first in-person meeting since before COVID. We look forward to holding this again next year with as much participation from provincial branches as possible.
Finally, I’ll close with introducing Shairoze Damji as your incoming National Chair for the 2024-2025 year. Thank you Shairoze and the incoming Executive, including Shannon Belvedere as the Vice-Chair, for your continuing work. Our last Executive call for 2023-2024 year will be held in July. Look to September 2024 for the start of a new roster of professional development activities. Thank you for the opportunity to work with all of you this year and I look forward to continuing to help this Section grow and advance.
All the best,
Elena Merritt, JD, LLM
Your Contributions Matter!
CBA members volunteer their time in many ways adding to the vibrancy of networks and continuing professional development. These contributions happen in different forms, guided by your availability and talents.
At National Dispute Resolution, we will be welcoming the incoming Chairpersons in September to attend our monthly executive meeting to work on our strategic plan for the upcoming year. We hope your branch section elections have been going well, and we have a mix of new and returning Chairpersons.
National DR executive also has room for members at large so if you are interested in volunteering your time, please reach out to let us know. These are annually renewed and can happen at any time of the year.
Committee work can be assisted by anyone that is a CBA member, even if you are not on the National executive. Whatever time commitment you can offer is welcomed. Committees will be planning our next CPD events, working on advocacy, relationship building, grading essays and communicating with the membership.
A true highlight of our National Dispute Resolution executive meetings is learning what each branch is up to at a provincial level, and sharing information about the trends and practice as it develops. Thank you for all your hard work, and we look forward to the upcoming year.
Check out some photos from our most recent activities:
Snapshot from the National Section Executive meeting held in Ottawa on June 14, 2024. From left to right: Elena Mamay, OBA DR Section Vice-Chair; Elena Merritt, National DR Section Chair; Véronique Morissette (on-screen) CBA staff lawyer; Shannon Belvedere, National DR Section Secretary; Gary LaCasse, ADRIC Executive Director; Laura Allen (on-screen), Nanaimo ADR Section Chair; Katherine Symonds, Department of Justice counsel; Frank McBrearty, National DR Section Past-Chair, and Natalie Edmondson, CBA National DR Section Staff Liaison.
Snapshot from the National Section Executive meeting held in Ottawa on June 14, 2024. From left to right: Frank McBrearty; Shannon Belvedere; Elena Merritt; and Elena Mamay.
Snapshot from the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Spring Conference held in San Diego in April 2024. From left to right: Elena Merritt, Chair of CBA National Dispute Resolution Section; Alex Chapa, mediator; Ana Sambold, Chair of ABA Dispute Resolution Section; and Sadie Cort, mediator.