CARLISLE, Pa. — Nancy Welsh, professor of law and William Trickett Faculty Scholar at Dickinson Law, was recently named chair of the Section of Dispute Resolution of the American Bar Association (ABA) for 2016-17. With nearly 400,000 members, the ABA is one of the largest volunteer professional organizations in the world.
“The Section of Dispute Resolution is a global leader in dispute resolution,” said Welsh. “I am honored to serve in this role and look forward to working with the lawyers, judges, academics, mediators, arbitrators, ombuds and other neutrals and administrators who make up the section.”
According to Welsh, there is increasing public awareness of the use of mediation, arbitration and other procedures to resolve both public and private conflicts. “Not surprisingly, there is also increasing incorporation of dispute resolution processes into legal education — especially with the expansion of experiential education opportunities. The section is playing an important role in developing policy, ensuring high-quality educational opportunities and resources, and protecting and promoting the integrity of dispute resolution.”
Welsh is a leading scholar and teacher of dispute resolution and procedural law. Her research and writing examine negotiation, mediation, arbitration and judicial settlement. She studies the justice and self-determination offered by these processes, their potential to resolve non-legal and legal issues, and the appropriate relationships among these processes and the courts.
Prior to joining Dickinson Law, Welsh was the executive director of a nonprofit dispute resolution organization and advised the Minnesota Supreme Court regarding the institutionalization of alternative dispute resolution. While in private practice, she litigated federal and state claims of defamation, violation of securities laws, breach of fiduciary duty and contract, corporate mismanagement and employment termination. She also studied court-connected mediation in the Netherlands as a Fulbright Scholar, has authored more than 60 articles and chapters, and is co-author of a leading dispute resolution legal textbook.