Join Professor Harold I. Abramson, Co-Author of The Singapore Convention on Mediated Settlements:  The Reference Book and AFLA Past President Richard Lutringer for one of the most important recent developments in cross-border private commercial disputes.  The UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements (generally known as the Singapore Convention), was adopted on December 20, 2018, and since signed by 53 countries, including the United States. Six countries have already taken the final step of ratifying the treaty and more are expected soon. Just as the New York Convention put international arbitration on the map, the Singapore Convention promises to elevate privately negotiated settlements reached through mediation to a level of direct enforceability in domestic courts.

Lawyers involved in international transactions need to be aware of the potential effects and the limitations of the Convention and how it will affect both the drafting and enforcement of international settlements in particular, and international agreements generally. The speakers will discuss these questions and the practical effects on mediation and its treatment by the judiciary.

Professor Harold I. Abramson, Touro Law Center, has been deeply involved in the development and practice of domestic and international dispute resolution for more than twenty-five years. He contributes as a teacher, trainer, author, and participant on professional committees and serves actively as a mediator and facilitator. He also has taught or trained on dispute resolution in nineteen countries on six continents. He is an award-winning author with two of his numerous publications receiving international awards from the CPR Institute for Conflict Resolution. In 2020, he was the sole recipient of Touro University’s Presidential Award for Scholarship. While at Touro, he visited full-time at Cardozo Law School in NYC and UNLV Law School in Las Vegas. He also visited for a year as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy where he assisted in building their negotiation program, including teaching negotiations and training negotiation teachers. Professor Abramson has been selected for the International Who’s Who of Commercial Mediation since its inaugural year and served as the first Scholar-in-Residence for the International Academy of Mediators.  He chaired the committee that drafted the rules for the ABA Mediation Representation Competition, served on the inaugural committee that launched the ICC Mediation Competition in Paris, and Chaired the Task Force for IMI that drafted the first ever standards for certifying cross-cultural mediators. He also was involved with drafting the new Singapore Mediation Convention. He served as an expert advisor to UNCITRAL when Working Group II drafted the Convention, participated in the drafting sessions, and co-chaired the first symposium on the Convention including editing a book that included chapters from delegates that helped draft the Convention. For his contributions to the field of dispute resolution, Professor Abramson received the 2013 Peace Builder Award from the NYS Dispute Resolution Association.

Richard Lutringer, former president of the AFLA, mediates business, employment, probate, real estate and family business disputes, including business divorce of privately-held LLC’s and partnerships. Formerly an international corporate partner of Schiff Hardin, and Morgan Lewis, Richard began mediating as a voluntary community mediator in CMS, Queens, and has trained in mediation theory and advanced techniques at Harvard University, Quinnipiac, NY Peace Institute, Unity Peacemaking Center, Southern California Mediation Association, Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, Peace Talks(LA), the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), the American Arbitration Association (AAA), NYCBA , NYSBA, the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), and other institutions. He has been a board member of the Association for Conflict  Resolution (ACR), Greater NY Chapter and the New York State Dispute Resolution Association (NYSDRA). He has earned certification as a Family Business Advisor from the Family Firm Institute and is currently chair of the  FFI Mediation Committee. He has presented workshops on mediation at the annual conferences of the ACR, NYSDRA, the Academy of Professional Family Mediators, FFI, among others. Since 2013 he has been a mediator and judge at the annual ICC Mediation Competition in Paris. Richard is on the mediation rosters of CEDR, the International Mediation Institute, AAA, CPR, the National Association of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN), various U.S. state and federal courts and is a Founding Member of Mediators Beyond Borders International.

Please find the invitation here.