Partnering for Impact: The Role of Law School Mediation Clinics in Court-Based ADR

This panel explores the dynamic and evolving partnerships between law school mediation clinics and court-based alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs. Bringing together the perspectives of mediation clinic directors and court ADR professionals, the discussion will trace the development of these collaborations over time—highlighting successes, challenges, and lessons learned. Panelists will examine how these partnerships have shaped legal education and court services and will consider the future of experiential learning and court-annexed dispute resolution.

About Robyn Weinstein

Previously, Weinstein was the Alternative Dispute Resolution Administrator for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, where she was a mediator and directed the court's mediation, arbitration and mediation advocacy programs. While at the EDNY, she developed a Pilot Mediator Incubator to recruit, mentor and train junior attorneys from diverse backgrounds to serve as mediators on the court’s roster. She also implemented a Trial Ready Rapid Mediation Pilot for civil cases in which trials were delayed due to the pandemic. 

Prior to her role at the court, Weinstein was the director for the Los Angeles office of Arts Arbitration & Mediation Services of California Lawyers for the Arts and an adjunct clinical professor of mediation at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. During her time in California, she was on the board of the Southern California Mediation Association and was board president in 2015. From 2017-2020, she was on the Council of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section. She also was the co-chair of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section Court ADR Committee and chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Subcommittee. She is the co-chair of the DEI Subcommittee of the New York City Bar Association ADR Committee.

An alumnus of Cardozo Law School, Weinstein was a Fellow of the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution from 2014-2015. 

About Kamella English

Kamella English has served as ADR Coordinator for the Civil Court of the City of New York since October 2022. From 2001 to 2022, she was a court attorney in the Housing Part of the Civil Court, where she developed and refined her skills in implementing ADR practices and procedures. A trained mediator, she is dedicated to expanding the court’s ADR offerings under the leadership of the Administrative Judge of the New York City Civil Court.

About Cai Phillips-Jones, J.D.

Cai Phillips-Jones is the Civil Court Coordinator for NYPI’s Community and Civil Court Diversion program. As a case manager, he works with the courts to help parties resolve cases on their own terms. He was first certified as a mediator in 2015 and since then has mediated a variety of conflict types, including small claims court, divorce, and citizen-police cases. Cai graduated from Cardozo School of Law with JD and an Advanced Certificate in Dispute Resolution. During law school, he worked with Cardozo’s Mediation Clinic and Divorce Mediation Clinic. He has conducted research and written on the interplay of mediation and technology, and believes strongly that emerging technologies can support parties in navigating conflict.

About Susan E. Salazar, Esq.

Susan E. Salazar is a tenure track Assistant Professor at CUNY School of Law. She is the Director of its Mediation Clinic, and teaches the Mediation Lawyering Seminar and Professional Responsibility.

Prior to her appointment at CUNY Salazar practiced employment law for more than 20 years, representing clients in discrimination, harassment, wage claims, worker misclassification, disability, arbitrations, mediations, unemployment insurance, and other employment-related matters. She also arbitrated Part 137 attorney-client fee disputes.

Professor Salazar mediates wage and hour and employment discrimination and other cases for the U.S. District Court for both the Southern District & Eastern District of New York and the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

From 2015 to 2018, she was appointed to serve on the United States District Court, Southern District of New York’s Mediator Advisory Committee. From 2020 to 2023 she served on the Board of Directors of The Association of Conflict Resolution Greater New York Chapter, Inc. She served as the co-chair of the Academia sub-committee of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the New York City Bar Association for the 2023 – 2024 term. She has been an active member of the Executive Committee of the Dispute Resolution Section of the New York State Bar Association, co-chairing the Membership Committee from 2020 through the term ending in 2024. She is a former co-chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the New York Women’s Bar Association. She also served as a mediator for the New York Peace Institute in New York City Civil Court and coached students in Brooklyn Law School’s Mediation Clinic.

Professor Salazar has most recently been selected as the chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the New York City Bar Association.