The Tree That Took Hold: Challenges, Growth, and Renewal in the First 25 Years of the Attorney-Client Fee Dispute Resolution Program

Over its first twenty five years, the Attorney Client Fee Dispute Resolution Program has reflected the Unified Court System’s embrace of ADR as an effective mechanism for promoting fairness, trust, and access to justice. Building on the lessons of an earlier matrimonial fee dispute program—created in response to a breakdown in trust between clients and the legal profession—the Program strives to level the playing field between attorneys and clients while maintaining a disciplined focus on fee disputes, reinforcing both clarity of mission and confidence in the process.

Designed with complementary roles for attorney and non attorney arbitrators, the Program offers parties a forum where parties' concerns are heard and respected. This structure has also created fertile ground for aspiring ADR practitioners, expanding pathways into ADR for individuals from varied backgrounds and enriching the roster of neutrals statewide. Guided by a Board of Governors that safeguards the Program’s limited scope, the system has grown into a stable and trusted initiative whose roots continue to deepen.

As the Program marks twenty five years, this session reflects on lessons learned, obstacles overcome, and the ongoing work required to sustain an initiative in a changing landscape.

About Jeremy Zeliger & Federica Romanelli

Jeremy Zeliger serves as Assistant Deputy Counsel in the New York State Unified Court System’s Division of Alternative Dispute Resolution, where he supports the development and evaluation of arbitration, mediation, and other ADR initiatives, including the Fee Dispute Resolution Program. He previously served in the Unified Court System’s Contracts and Procurement Unit, the Office of Justice Court Support, and the Judicial Institute, among other offices. Jeremy also worked for FINRA Dispute Resolution and served in the Vermont Judiciary managing the family mediation, parent coordination, court interpreters, juvenile court improvement, guardian ad litem, and treatment dockets programs. Jeremy graduated from the State University of New York at Albany and The Dickinson School of Law in Pennsylvania, and he is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont.

Federica Romanelli serves in the New York State Unified Court System’s Division of Alternative Dispute Resolution, where she supports the administration of the Fee Dispute Resolution Program and other ADR initiatives. She brings deep familiarity with Part 137, having first served as an arbitrator and later as the Program Coordinator for the 1st and 12th Judicial Districts at the New York County Lawyers Association, overseeing operations for the state’s largest fee dispute program.

Romanelli’s ADR background includes mediation experience with the New York Peace Institute and an LL.M. in Dispute Resolution and Advocacy from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She also has significant international legal experience as a Foreign Legal Consultant in New York, advising on corporate restructuring, commercial transactions, and privacy law. Her work across Italy, Spain, and the United States provides a broad international perspective that informs her contributions to statewide ADR efforts.