Heartland Dispute Resolution Association (HDRA)
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
11:30am to 1:30pm
Co-Resolution: A New Negotiation Process for Attorneys and Mediators
Nathan Witkin, J.D., M.P.P.
2 KS CDRE Hours - Approved
2 KS CLE Hours – Approved
2.4 MCLE – Approved
Once you register and pay, you will be sent the Zoom link the day before the webinar.  If you pay on the website, you will be using HDRA’s PayPal account. You may also mail a check to HDRA’S P.O. Box in the signature address. Click this link: https://www.heartlanddisputeresolutionassociation.org/monthly-webinar-registration/ (This webinar will not be video-taped to watch at a later date) You need 6 KS CDRE hours for your KS 2025 state approval including one domestic violence hour or one ethics hour.

HDRA offered this same webinar in 2023 and the people who attended it requested more training on the subject.  I feel it can be very beneficial to all dispute resolution professionals especially to small town attorneys and DR practitioners. Please join in and learn about it. In 2023 Tom Stratton, with the Kansas Office of Disciplinary Administrator, went through every PowerPoint slide of this presentation and made sure it matched KS attorney rules. Tom Stratton retired and the Office of Disciplinary Administrator asked you to contact them with your questions: 785-435-8200 and email: attydisc@kscourts.org.  There is at least one attorney in the office available all business hours to answer your questions. Crystal Vokins, currently at the Office of Disciplinary Administrator told me her understanding is that this has been offered for at least 20 years and she used to call this office with questions when she was in private practice.

Co-Resolution: A New Negotiation Process for Attorneys and Mediators
Nathan Witkin, J.D., M.P.P.
Co-resolution is a two-coach mediation/negotiation model that promises to fix the unique challenges experienced by mediators and attorneys in fostering reliable cooperation at the negotiation table. Co-resolution has been featured favorably in Conflict Resolution Quarterly, the ABA's official law review on ADR, the Negotiate Anything podcast, the Mediate.com podcast, an AFCC national conference, and several ACR national conferences. In prior trainings, ranging from 1 hour to 6 hours in length, this material on co-resolution has been approved for all CLE hours requested in Ohio, where Mr. Witkin practiced law. Participant surveys from these trainings were favorable, with average ratings of 4.8/5.0 for the presenter and 4.6/5.0 for the overall trainings.

 Takeaways for mediators:

1. Summary of what co-resolution is. Co-resolution involves a team of mediation-trained professionals who each give personal guidance to one party in communication/persuasion skills and negotiation strategy (without providing legal advice or otherwise practicing law).
2. Evidence from the application of co-resolution. Results of one pilot program. How some practitioners who have been trained in the process have used co-resolution.
3. Description of how mediators could incorporate co-resolution into their practice to resolve difficult cases in which disputants need personal guidance to communicate and negotiate effectively.
4. Review of legal ethics: How to conduct co-resolution without practicing law.
5. Game theory: Quick review of how the logical result of the Prisoner's Dilemma is mutual competition. Discussion of how this dynamic makes cooperation difficult for mediators.
6. Mediation's limitations: The need for impartiality prevents mediators from giving advice on best practices in communication and persuasion.
7. Mediation history: Mediation's roots in "wise elder mediation" in which the mediator uses their standing in the community to guide a resolution of the dispute.
8. All modern dispute resolution processes must be neutral. Mediation uses impartiality to produce neutrality. Co-resolution uses balance to produce neutrality.

Takeaway for attorneys:

1. Summary of what co-resolution is, evidence from its early application (see above).
2. How attorneys could incorporate co-resolution into their practice to address disputes that produce real suffering but do not have a clear legal basis.
3. The differences between co-resolution and collaborative law. The limitations of collaborative law, and how the co-resolution approach may be more accessible to potential clients with interpersonal disputes.
4. Game theory: Quick review of how the logical result of the Prisoner's Dilemma is mutual competition. Discussion of how this dynamic affects the interaction among attorneys as the number of attorneys in an area grows.
5. Legal history: The growth of the U.S. legal profession relative to the U.S. population. Review of the speaker's experience practicing law in a small town. Discussion of whether this dynamic has impacted the practice of law in Kansas.
6. The potential of dependent advocacy as an alternative to independent advocacy (the topic of the speaker's law review article on legal ethics).
   The speaker, Nathan Witkin, J.D., M.P.P., developed co-resolution under the supervision of prominent leaders (academics and practitioners) in the field of dispute resolution. He practiced law for nine years as a solo practitioner before getting a Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown's McCourt School. He now serves as a research analyst for an analytics company that consults for local government and nonprofit organizations. 
   

May 15, 2024: Trauma Informed Communication - Teri Hargrave (2 CDRE, 2 CLE, 2.4 MCLE)
Jun 19, 2024:  Restorative Justice in Columbia, South America post Peace Treaty – Tonya Ricklefs  (2 CDRE + 2 CLE?)
Jul 17, 2024: Workplace Mediation – Marvin Motley (1 CDRE, 1 CLE?)
Aug 21, 2024: RJ in Schools – KIPCOR Laurel Woodward-Breckbill (2 CDRE, CLE ?)
Sep 18, 2024: Johnson County Landlord/Tenant Pilot Project – Judge John McEntee (1 CDRE, 1 CLE, 1 MCLE)
Oct 16, 2024: Higher Education Mediation – Dorris Mbogo (1 CDRE, 1 CLE, 1.2 MCLE)
Nov 20, 2024: Interplay Between Ethical Requirements for Attorneys & Mediators - Lloyd Swartz (Ethics 1 CDRE, 1 CLE, 1.2 MCLE)
Dec 18, 2024: : Kansas Office of Judicial Administration – Amanda Jacobsen (1 hour) (Free) (1 CDRE & 1 CLE)

Two-hour webinar pricing:
HDRA Member ..... $45
Non-HDRA Member .... $75
Full-Time Student ......$20

SAVE THE DATE: 2025: In person conference April 3-4, 2025 with Bill Eddy at KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park, KS.
Bill Eddy’s 2021 book: Mediating High Conflict Disputes
Monthly webinars every month except April in 2025.