Fellow Emeritus, LAWRENCE WATSON, Prof. JAMES  J. ALFINI,
ACCTM President, PAMELA REEVES, and Past President, MELVIN RUBIN

2009 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
                         Prof. James J. Alfini

July 13, 2009 - At the annual meeting of The American College of Civil Trial Mediators held at The Fairmont Hotel-Banff Springs, Alberta, Canada, the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Prof. James J. Alfini.

JAMES J. ALFINI is President and Dean at South Texas College of Law. Prior to his arrival at STCL, Dean Alfini was Professor of Law at Northern Illinois University, where he taught constitutional law, mediation theory and practice, legal ethics, and related courses.  He served as dean of the Northern Illinois University College of Law for six years and previously was a member of the law faculty at Florida State University. 

Dean Alfini is widely published in the field of dispute resolution.  His articles include Trashing, Bashing, and Hashing it Out: Is This the End of "Good Mediation" (Florida State University Law Review), and Mediating in the Shadow of the Law (University of Arkansas Law Review). His books include the co-edited ADR Personalities and Practice Tips, published by the American Bar Association, and the co-authored  Mediation Theory and Practice, a law school textbook published by Lexis Law Publishing

While at Florida State, he served as the founding Director of Education and Research of the Florida Dispute Resolution Center and was a member of the Florida Supreme Court Arbitration and Mediation Rules Committee. He was also a member of the AAA/ABA/SPIDR Committee that drafted the Standards of Conduct for Mediators in 1994.  He has served as Chair of the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section and Chair of the Association of American Law Schools Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. He currently serves as a member of the ABA House of Delegates, representing the Dispute Resolution Section.

Alfini also has expertise in judicial ethics and is co-author of Judicial Conduct and Ethics, published by Lexis and in its 4^th Edition (2007).  He served on the American Bar Association Joint Commission to Evaluate the Model Code of Judicial Conduct.  The Commission’s work resulted in the 2007 Model Code of Judicial Conduct, adopted by the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.

Dean Alfini  received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and his J.D. from Northwestern University.  He and his wife, Carol, have been married for 42 years.  Their two sons, Michael (an editor with an advertising firm) and David (an attorney with Hinshaw & Culbertson) live in Chicago.

In addition to receiving the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award, the College takes great pride in welcoming Prof. Alfini as Fellow Emeritus. 

FELLOWS News & Notes  To post items, please contact the Administrative Office.

  October 2009 -  Michael John Aloi will be President of the Association for Conflict Resolution beginning October 2009 and was past Co-Chairperson of the ACR Spirituality Section. He is Past President of the West Virginia State Bar (2002-2003). He has been selected for inclusion in “The Best Lawyers in America” for ADR and is listed as one of only five lawyers in the state of West Virginia as a Super Lawyer in the field of ADR. He is the only lawyer in West Virginia to be a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators. Michael is a Lecturer at the West Virginia University College of Law, where he is a Clinical Law Program Supervisor. He also teaches Negotiation in the West Virginia Wesleyan College MBA Program. He has mediated over 2,000 cases and has trained mediators in West Virginia for over twenty years. Michael lectures nationally on the topic of a more holistic approach to conflict resolution. During his year as State Bar President he encouraged lawyers to find “Balance” in personal and professional life and emphasized a more holistic and humane approach to the practice of law.

NEW MEMBERS -  2010
Welcome and Congratulations are extended to the following Fellows:

Donald R.Philbin, Jr.
San Antonio, TX

Joseph V. Simeri
Simeri and Company PC
South Bend, IN

Robert E. Hornberger
ADR, Inc.
Fort Smith, AR

James J. McMonagle
Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP
Cleveland, OH