December 23, 2025
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Beyond the Mediation Clause Over the last two decades, “mediation” has become a routine feature of international contracts. Most major agreements now include a multi-tier dispute resolution clause, with mediation sitting neatly between negotiation and arbitration or litigation. On the page, this looks like progress. In practice, however, many of these clauses are boilerplate in […]
Welcome back to Mediation Aspects of SB940 in California, a series providing updates on Business and Professions Code 6173, which created a voluntary certification program for mediators and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) professionals in California. The new program “aims to promote adherence to ethical standards for ADR services and establish consumer protection mechanisms.” This […]
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in mediation gives rise to innumerable ethical questions. What do we mean by AI? Should a mediator use AI, depending on the meaning? How should a mediator use AI? How transparent should a mediator be with the parties when using AI? How does a mediator identify, test, or correct […]
Mediation Term Sheet Enforced A lawyer, Schlecht, proceeding pro se, settled his litigation against Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance in mediation. The parties executed a “Settlement Term Sheet Memorandum” which provided that the case would be terminated “in accordance with standard contractual language” to be drafted by Northwestern’s counsel. An experienced mediator represented to the court […]
FIND THE RIGHT MEDIATOR FOR YOU.
Explore AAA Mediation.org’s extensive list of online mediator profiles to identify and select a mediator best suited for your particular dispute.
Christopher M. Ernst is a full-time arbitrator and mediator, having retired from the active practice of law in 2025 after 34 years of fighting for his clients. His ADR practice, Nationwide ADR (www.nationwideadr.com), focuses on resolving complex disputes in the areas of business, tort, consumer, employment, and securities law. While based in Cleveland, Ohio, he oversees cases across the country. He is also the author of Baldwin’s Ohio Practice: Tort Law 2d, published by West/Thomson Reuters.
Christopher M. Ernst is a full-time arbitrator and mediator, having retired from the active practice of law in 2025 after 34 years of fighting for his clients. His ADR practice, Nationwide ADR (www.nationwideadr.com), focuses on resolving complex disputes in the areas of business, tort, consumer, employment, and securities law. While based in Cleveland, Ohio, he oversees cases across the country. He is also the author of Baldwin’s Ohio Practice: Tort Law 2d, published by West/Thomson Reuters.
Hon. Daniel A. Naranjo is a seasoned legal professional based in San Antonio, Texas, with over four decades of experience in the legal field. A former U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Texas (1981–1989), he has built a distinguished career as an attorney, mediator, arbitrator, and adjunct professor of law. Judge Naranjo was former President of the San Antonio Bar Association in 1984.
Judge Naranjo has been actively engaged in alternative dispute resolution since 1989, arbitrating and mediating complex commercial, employment, construction, securities, and education law matters. He is particularly noted for his work in Title VII and ADA disputes, as well as high-stakes commercial cases involving contracts, lender liability, and insurance bad-faith claims.
A U.S. Air Force veteran and former Captain in the Office of Special Investigations, Judge Naranjo holds a BA and JD from the University of Texas. He is admitted to practice before multiple federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has also contributed to legal scholarship, co-authoring several articles and speaking extensively on mediation and ethics. Judge Naranjo was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 by San Antonio Business Journal for his work in the legal profession.
He has taught alternative dispute resolution as an adjunct professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law and as a visiting professor at Pepperdine University. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Judge Naranjo is recognized for his integrity, legal acumen, and dedication to fair and effective dispute resolution.
Hon. Daniel A. Naranjo is a seasoned legal professional based in San Antonio, Texas, with over four decades of experience in the legal field. A former U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Texas (1981–1989), he has built a distinguished career as an attorney, mediator, arbitrator, and adjunct professor of law. Judge Naranjo was former President of the San Antonio Bar Association in 1984.
Judge Naranjo has been actively engaged in alternative dispute resolution since 1989, arbitrating and mediating complex commercial, employment, construction, securities, and education law matters. He is particularly noted for his work in Title VII and ADA disputes, as well as high-stakes commercial cases involving contracts, lender liability, and insurance bad-faith claims.
A U.S. Air Force veteran and former Captain in the Office of Special Investigations, Judge Naranjo holds a BA and JD from the University of Texas. He is admitted to practice before multiple federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has also contributed to legal scholarship, co-authoring several articles and speaking extensively on mediation and ethics. Judge Naranjo was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 by San Antonio Business Journal for his work in the legal profession.
He has taught alternative dispute resolution as an adjunct professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law and as a visiting professor at Pepperdine University. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Judge Naranjo is recognized for his integrity, legal acumen, and dedication to fair and effective dispute resolution.
Joan Stearns Johnsen, FCIArb, CEDR Accredited, IMI Certified, is an experienced neutral, trainer, and teacher. She is the Director of the Institute for Dispute Resolution at the University of Florida Levin College of Law where she teaches international arbitration, arbitration, mediation, and negotiation. Joan also regularly conducts corporate trainings and speaks and publishes regularly on dispute resolution. She has been quoted on NPR, CBS, and other news sources. Joan has over thirty years’ experience as an arbitrator and mediator with particular expertise in financial services, mergers and acquisitions, entertainment, and other commercial disputes. She is a member of the American Arbitration Association mediation and arbitration panels as well as on a number of other panels. Prior to becoming a neutral Joan was an Enforcement Attorney for the Commodity Futures Commission in Washington, DC, Associate General Counsel for the Commodity Exchange, Inc. (now a Designated Contract Market within the CME Group) and Assistant Commodities Counsel for Smith Barney (now Morgan Stanley Wealth Management) both in New York. In addition to serving on the editorial board of the AAA’s mediate.com website. Joan is a member of the AAA’s Financial Services Advisory Committee, a past Chair of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, current Co-chair of the International Bar Association’s Mediation Committee, on the Council of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, and an academic board member of the Miami International Arbitration Society.
Joan Stearns Johnsen, FCIArb, CEDR Accredited, IMI Certified, is an experienced neutral, trainer, and teacher. She is the Director of the Institute for Dispute Resolution at the University of Florida Levin College of Law where she teaches international arbitration, arbitration, mediation, and negotiation. Joan also regularly conducts corporate trainings and speaks and publishes regularly on dispute resolution. She has been quoted on NPR, CBS, and other news sources. Joan has over thirty years’ experience as an arbitrator and mediator with particular expertise in financial services, mergers and acquisitions, entertainment, and other commercial disputes. She is a member of the American Arbitration Association mediation and arbitration panels as well as on a number of other panels. Prior to becoming a neutral Joan was an Enforcement Attorney for the Commodity Futures Commission in Washington, DC, Associate General Counsel for the Commodity Exchange, Inc. (now a Designated Contract Market within the CME Group) and Assistant Commodities Counsel for Smith Barney (now Morgan Stanley Wealth Management) both in New York. In addition to serving on the editorial board of the AAA’s mediate.com website. Joan is a member of the AAA’s Financial Services Advisory Committee, a past Chair of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, current Co-chair of the International Bar Association’s Mediation Committee, on the Council of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, and an academic board member of the Miami International Arbitration Society.
Stephen S. Strick is an Alternative Dispute Resolution Specialist with over thirty years of experience as an international and domestic arbitrator and mediator. Stephen has served as Chair, sole arbitrator, or panel member on over three hundred and fifty Domestic and International commercial arbitrations in fields that include technology, media, IP, licensing, FCC matters, sports, healthcare, and other industries. His professional practice is exclusively devoted to dispute resolution.
Stephen currently serves on the American Arbitration Association’s National Roster of Arbitrators, its Commercial Panel, Large, Complex Case Panel, Federal Communications Panel, Panel of Mediators, the ICDR International Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators. Stephen maintains a full-time practice, is listed as a neutral on the rosters of most major ADR provider organizations and is a Fellow and sitting current President of the College of Commercial Arbitrators.
Prior to starting his ADR practice, Stephen was a film and television lawyer and a senior studio executive and ultimately a film producer, working on the production, financing and/or distribution and international sales of hundreds of motion pictures, including such iconic films as Rocky, Carrie, the Pink Panther Series, the James Bond Series, Star Wars , Dune, Blue Velvet, Conan the Barbarian and many others, working both independently as well as with such companies as United Artists Corporation, HBO, and Dino De Laurentiis Corporation. He was also in private practice at the predecessor to the prestigious entertainment law firm Loeb & Loeb where he represented motion picture actors, writers, directors, banks, and other institutions in their film related businesses.
Stephen S. Strick is an Alternative Dispute Resolution Specialist with over thirty years of experience as an international and domestic arbitrator and mediator. Stephen has served as Chair, sole arbitrator, or panel member on over three hundred and fifty Domestic and International commercial arbitrations in fields that include technology, media, IP, licensing, FCC matters, sports, healthcare, and other industries. His professional practice is exclusively devoted to dispute resolution.
Stephen currently serves on the American Arbitration Association’s National Roster of Arbitrators, its Commercial Panel, Large, Complex Case Panel, Federal Communications Panel, Panel of Mediators, the ICDR International Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators. Stephen maintains a full-time practice, is listed as a neutral on the rosters of most major ADR provider organizations and is a Fellow and sitting current President of the College of Commercial Arbitrators.
Prior to starting his ADR practice, Stephen was a film and television lawyer and a senior studio executive and ultimately a film producer, working on the production, financing and/or distribution and international sales of hundreds of motion pictures, including such iconic films as Rocky, Carrie, the Pink Panther Series, the James Bond Series, Star Wars , Dune, Blue Velvet, Conan the Barbarian and many others, working both independently as well as with such companies as United Artists Corporation, HBO, and Dino De Laurentiis Corporation. He was also in private practice at the predecessor to the prestigious entertainment law firm Loeb & Loeb where he represented motion picture actors, writers, directors, banks, and other institutions in their film related businesses.
Before launching his independent neutral practice in January 2024, Rich Silberberg spent 36 years as a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP in New York, handling complex domestic and international commercial disputes in courts and arbitration forums nationwide. Over the past three decades, he has mediated roughly 300 cases and served in arbitral roles in about 350 disputes, including class and multi-party matters. Rich currently chairs the AAA-ICDR® Council’s Arbitrator Committee, is a Past President and Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, and holds leadership positions with the New York International Arbitration Center. He is also a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the American College of Civil Trial Mediators.
Before launching his independent neutral practice in January 2024, Rich Silberberg spent 36 years as a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP in New York, handling complex domestic and international commercial disputes in courts and arbitration forums nationwide. Over the past three decades, he has mediated roughly 300 cases and served in arbitral roles in about 350 disputes, including class and multi-party matters. Rich currently chairs the AAA-ICDR® Council’s Arbitrator Committee, is a Past President and Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, and holds leadership positions with the New York International Arbitration Center. He is also a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the American College of Civil Trial Mediators.
Mr. Feliu is a long-time panelist on American Arbitration Association’s Employment Disputes, Large, Complex Commercial, Class Action, and is on its Master Mediator Panel. He has been appointed to serve as arbitrator in over 650 employment and commercial cases over his long career.
Mr. Feliu is the Editor-in-Chief of the leading treatise in the employment dispute resolution area, ADR in Employment Law (Bloomberg/BNA 2015, 2017 Supplement), and is a frequent lecturer and trainer on employment and commercial arbitration and mediation topics. Mr. Feliu is a former Chair of the Labor & Employment Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and, for many years, was the co-Chair of its Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. Mr. Feliu is a Fellow and on the Board of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, as well as a Fellow with the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He has also served as the EEO Officer for the Port of New York and New Jersey since 2006.
Mr. Feliu is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia Law School.
Mr. Feliu is a long-time panelist on American Arbitration Association’s Employment Disputes, Large, Complex Commercial, Class Action, and is on its Master Mediator Panel. He has been appointed to serve as arbitrator in over 650 employment and commercial cases over his long career.
Mr. Feliu is the Editor-in-Chief of the leading treatise in the employment dispute resolution area, ADR in Employment Law (Bloomberg/BNA 2015, 2017 Supplement), and is a frequent lecturer and trainer on employment and commercial arbitration and mediation topics. Mr. Feliu is a former Chair of the Labor & Employment Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and, for many years, was the co-Chair of its Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. Mr. Feliu is a Fellow and on the Board of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, as well as a Fellow with the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He has also served as the EEO Officer for the Port of New York and New Jersey since 2006.
Mr. Feliu is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia Law School.
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