Communique - CNDR's Newsletter
Spring 2010 Special Edition

CNDR Makes a Splash at the ABA DR Spring Conference

CNDR and its extended family are making the final arrangements for presentations and events at the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution's 12^th Annual Spring Conference, April 7-10, here in San Francisco.  Conference Co-Chairs are Hastings alumni Ruth V. Glick '91 and CNDR Adjunct Professor Howard Herman '83.  Members of the Honorary Local Host Committee include Hastings alumni Claudia Bernard '86 and Sheila Purcell '86, as well as Adjunct Professor and President of the Mediation Society of Northern California, Robert Fries.  John Lande '80 is a council member of the Secton of Dispute Resolution.  And, our very own Director and Clinical Professor Grande Lum served on the Program Committee.

Events begin on Wednesday, April 7^th, before the main conference begins, with a number of pre-conference meetings, as well as a symposium on Court ADR.  This day will also include the National Representation in Mediation Competition, where the regional winners from across the country will compete for the National prize.  Hastings Professors Gail Silverstein and Darshan Brach are both on the Legal Education Committee, which is responsible for organizing the competitions and drafting problems for the regional and national competitions. 

Hastings will be well represented during the conference's main dates of April 8^th through 10^th, when a number of Hastings alumni and faculty will be presenting on their various areas of expertise.  Professor Clark Freshman will co-present Lie Detection and Deep Truth Negotiations: Lessons from Science & the Wizards.  Sheila Purcell will be speaking on two different panels - Dispute System Design: A Comparative Look at Court ADR in Bhutan, India, Israel and U.S.; and Probate ADR: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.  Graduate Fellows Paola Cecchi Dimeglio and Peter Kamminga will present Success Indicators for the Use of ADR in European Business Contracts.  Russell Brunson will join a panel of mediators in Stories Mediators Tell.  Grande Lum, Timothy Dayonot, Jessica Notini and Rochael Soper will be presenting Shake It Up: Teaching the Negotiation Class Creatively.  Howard Herman will speak about A Hybrid ADR Process: Judges and Mediators Collaborate.  Claudi Bernard will join a panel discussing Party Participation in Mediation: The Desire to be Heard, Not Just Seen.  And, Eileen Barker will be presenting Forgiveness: The Ultimate Tool of Conflict Resolution.

CNDR will have a large presence at the conference with a booth, sponsored materials and activities, as well as hosting a free luncheon for Hastings alums and ADR Faculty on campus in our beautiful Skyroom.  The luncheon takes place during unscheduled time at the conference, Thursday, April 8, 11:30 to 1pm.  If you are interested in this luncheon, please contact Jolynn Jones at jonesj@uchastings.edu or 415.581.8941. 

For more information and to register for the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution's Spring Conference, click here.

Alumni Spotlight: Irene Bueno '88

Irene Bueno '88 is recognized as a mover and shaker in Washington DC.  She is co-founder and partner of NVG, a political consulting and lobbying firm specializing in public policy, advocacy, strategic advice, and outreach in Washington.  Irene recruited and put together a well-rounded team of people she worked with and knew from her experience working in the White House and on Capital Hill, including members of the Washington media, as part of the firm.  With this broad expertise and familiarity with the players in DC, NVG builds and maintains coalitions to support lobbying campaigns, helps clients work strategically with their home state representatives to gain federal support, helps clients craft effective processes that lead to thoughtful policy solutions, and analyzes policy issues to form persuasive arguments to accomplish their client's goals.  The firm serves a wide variety of clients from the nonprofit sector to corporations, including the United Farm Workers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).  For more information on NVG, visit their website.

When she graduated from Hastings, Irene knew that she didn't want to practice law in the traditional sense, having worked with the GAAP clinic at Hastings and interned with the Asian Law Caucus and the ACLU during her summers.  She pursued and obtained a fellowship with the Coro Foundation Fellow Program in Public Affairs, and then moved to Washington DC, to begin networking and establishing herself.  She began working as a legislative analyst for Congressman Roybal of LA, focusing on immigration issues.  She then went to work for Senator Alan Cranston, gaining legislative experience in both houses.  When Senator Cranston retired, Irene was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services.  During the Clinton administration, she was Special Assistant to the President in the White House Chief of Staff's Office.  She worked on welfare reform and immigration issues while at the White House.

Irene loves her work.  "Lobbying is perfect for me.  It's a combination of policy, people and problem solving.  I know that I'm helping people and that let's me sleep at night."  She notes that almost everything she does involves some kind of negotiation - with either her clients or the people she's lobbying and working with.  A typical day for her begins at 5 am, reading as much as possible from a variety of sources.  It's essential for her to know what's going on and what people are talking about.  She prioritizes steps and goals for her clients and works on legislation.  Then her "real" day begins with meetings, caucuses, emails, more meetings, fundraisers, dinner functions and more emails.  As she says, "I'm always on."

Is there a down side to lobbying for her?  Irene finds it challenging to understand that some things are beyond her control.  She can do everything she can, but she can't, herself, get healthcare reform (for example) through Congress.  "The politics are challenging."  She notes that often the best policies and ideas to solve a problem don't work politically. 

Despite what seems like a very busy lifestyle, Irene points out that when she worked in the White House she was even busier.  "It's a different place.  You're on call 24/7, working 12 hour days plus Saturdays."  In addition, she was acutely aware that "everyone was looking" which made for a very intense experience.  Today, she values her flexibility and time with her family.

Advice for others interested in doing what she does?  Networking!  "Washington is a great place.  You meet fascinating people, and learn so much from those around you.  There are lots of opportunities to intern and increase your exposure in the community."  She also mentioned doing informational interviews with Hastings alums in the area.  "Ultimately, you need to figure out what you're interested in and passionate about, and then pursue those interests through talking with people, joining associations and gaining experience and familiarity in the field."

Negotiation & Mediation Team Update: March Madness

This March the Hastings Negotiation and Mediation team traveled from coast to coast and across the pond to compete in five different competitions.  At one point, Head Coach Clint Waasted was on the road and in the air for two consecutive weeks.  And, we're still not done yet, as the team is traveling to Richmond, Virginia to compete in the Merhige Environmental Negotiation Competition this weekend.  However, we have lots to toot our horns about thus far. 

After winning second and fourth place at Liberty University School of Law's National Negotiation Competition, and fifth place at the International Chamber of Commerce's Commercial Mediation Competition, the team drove to Eugene, OR to compete at the ABA Regional Representation in Mediation Competition.  Kelsey Quaranto and Yaeri Kim placed 3^rd and Caitlin Daniel and Henry Steinberg placed 6^th in a competitive field of schools from the West Coast. 

Immediately upon returning from Eugene, Head Coach Clint Waasted jetted off with the team to Leipzig, Germany to compete at The Negotiation Challenge 2010, sponsored by the Leipzig Graduate School of Management.  In a field of 36 competitors from 25 countries, Hastings negotiated its way through four intense preliminary rounds to reach the final round where a panel of four judges took less than 15 minutes to announce that Hastings was the champion of The Negotiation Challenge 2010.  Team members Ryan Cunningham, Tim Crawley and Chris Lee made us even more proud by winning the final round based upon their ethics in negotiating!

On the same weekend, CNDR Director Grande Lum traveled with the team to Los Angeles to compete in the California State Bar's Environmental Negotiation Competition.  This has traditionally been a tough competition for Hastings, because of the technical subject matter and its generally litigious tone.  Team members Kalpana Sundaram and Kate Eary did well during the preliminary rounds.  We were absolutely thrilled that Sean Gentry and Samir Abdelnour not only made it to the finals, but won 2^nd place, which included a cash prize of $500.  It should be noted that Sean Gentry reached the finals in both competitions he entered this year, making Hastings extremely proud.

Heady with success from the weekend, Clint then flew to Chicago to meet the team for the International Law School Mediation Tournament.  The competition consisted of 38 teams of 3 negotiators and mediators each (117 students total).  Each person participated in a rotation with two rounds as an advocate and one round as a mediator.  At the end of it all, awards were given to the top 10 individual performances for advocacy and mediation, as well as the top 10 team performances in advocacy and mediation.  Hastings took 25% of all of the awards:

1^st Place Mediator - Megan O'Sullivan
7^th Place Mediator - Caitlin Tallon
4^th Place Advocacy - Ariane Mohamadi and Christina Clauss
6^th Place Advocacy - Jennifer Takehana and Emily Chan
10^th Place Advocacy - Lee Lam and Caitlin Tallon
3^rd Place Team Advocacy - Wesley Sheffield, Christina Clauss and Ariane Mohamadi
9^th Place Team Advocacy - Caitlin Tallon, Lisa Hathaway and Lee Lam
5^th Place Team Mediation - Leah Sykes, Megan O'Sullivan and Jennifer Takehana
9^th Place Team Mediation - Caitlin Tallon, Lee Lam and Lisa Hathaway

We are looking forward to more success, and will have the team's full and final results for you in our next issue.

Alumni Spotlight: Jennifer Van der Heide

Jennifer Van der Heide '92 (pictured here on the left with Kalyn Free, Rep. Mike Honda & Robert Holden), Chief of Staff for California Representative Mike Honda, grew up in Minneapolis, and went to Tufts to major in International Relations & Development.  She came to Hastings for its curriculum and the live, urban environment it is situated in.  She was attracted to Hastings' clinical courses such as Negotiation & Mediation (she took Melissa Nelken's class), Trial Advocacy, and all the opportunities available through externships.  California was also recognized as being at the national forefront of policy development, and Jennifer was eager to learn as much as she could in this area.

After graduation, inspired by Professors Jo Carillo and Shauna Marshall, Jennifer went to work for California Indian Legal Services, specializing in Federal Indian Law.  She was the tribal attorney for the Hoopa Valley Tribe and had the opportunity to "observe the practice of law in a different, small-community environment."  With the tribe, there were tough politics, both internally and externally.  She worked on their behalf for economic remedies to historical issues as well as within the tribe to settle water and fishing rights issues. 

While at California Indian Legal Services, Jennifer met then County Supervisor Mike Honda.  "I met him and have been inspired ever since.  He's an extraordinary person; he never forgets the people around him.  I continually learn from him, he's a great boss and we share the same approach to policy and management."  Jennifer worked on Honda's campaign for the California State Assembly, and when he was elected, became his legal director in Sacramento.  When Honda ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2001, Jennifer was his campaign manager, and when he won, she was appointed Chief of Staff and has been since.

The job of Chief of Staff evolves depending on what Representative Honda is involved in.  Currently, Honda serves on the Committee on Appropriations, is Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, and is Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.  Jennifer's job is to manage expectations, goals, strategic decisions, people, time and most decisions that are made within Honda's office.  Jennifer loves what she does, and feels "blessed to have a job I love all the time."  She is learning continually as she meets with constituency groups, listens to their points of view, shares concerns, and develops innovative solutions to meet their needs. 

Like her boss, Jennifer is committed to staff development and likes to spend time with her younger staff, sharing her insights to assist them in their career decisions.  If she had to do it all over again, she would have taken a break from school and gained more "real world" experience before going to law school.  She also would have spent more energy on understanding Constitutional Law and taken Property Law, which is so important to Tribal Law.

Jennifer thinks of Hastings fondly.  She learned so much from the diverse student body and the real life experiences they shared with her.  Classes such as Trial Advocacy and Negotiation and Mediation helped people practice "who they were and what they were learning."  She made the observation that law students often didn't feel better about themselves after law school.  Jennifer learned, especially from Negotiation and Mediation, that she didn't have to fit into any particular mold to be successful.  She hopes that current law students keep an open mind about their futures, and take the time to find ways for them to meet their original goals they had before law school in their future practices.