In December, 2016, the executive committee of ABI’s Board of Directors created the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy. The Commission is comprised of seventeen members charged with examining the consumer bankruptcy system and delivering a report in December 2018 with recommended improvements.
On June 12, 2017, the American Bar Association’s Section of Dispute Resolution published its “Report of the Task Force on Research on Mediator Techniques.” Notably, this report makes no reference to any research on bankruptcy mediation — not even a single study.
The Mediation Committee looks forward to another productive year. Our ABI-published mediation book, Bankruptcy Mediation, is an excellent resource for mediators and representatives of parties in mediation.
In 2009, I had a summer intern and together we spent the entire summer compiling an outline summarizing the contents of local rules concerning the use of mediation and other ADR processes in bankruptcy courts throughout the nation (I did some other stuff too like having lunch in the park instead of at my desk). This was long a project on the bucket list of the former ADR Committee of the Ameri
We are pleased to report that many bankruptcy judges responded to our survey on the use of mediation in their courts. The response rate was 26 percent, and we are told this is a very high rate of return. We appreciate the time and effort each of the participating judges expended in this effort and hope you will find this summary of results to be useful.
The Mediation Committee had a tremendous 2016! We strived to continue to provide our members with enlightening and useful substantive information while also offering enjoyable and valuable social and networking opportunities.
Mediation is receiving an increasing amount of attention in international commercial matters, including cross-border insolvency and restructurings. The global nature of business enterprises today, with exposure to litigation — and its expense and risk — in more than one forum, is a compelling reason to pursue mediation as a solution to contentious disputes.
The Mediation Committee is pleased to announce a new ABI publication: Bankruptcy Mediation. ABI last published a book about mediation in 2009. Since then, the application of mediation to all aspects of the bankruptcy process has grown exponentially. As of 2016, numerous Bankruptcy Courts have adopted local rules on mediation and many have pre-certified panels of mediators.
“In my mind, there was a stigma attached to bankruptcy. Bankruptcy meant weakness, failure . . . that you weren’t able to take care of yourself and your family on your own, as a man,” Jose Miranda told us.
In Ozenne v. Chase Manhattan Bank (In re Ozenne), a majority of the U.S.
