9:00 AM — Welcome Address by Dean Hari Osofsky

9:15 AM — Introduction of Speakers

9:30 AM — Professor Richard Bales' Presentation — "Labor Arbitration Awards for First Responders, etc."

10:10 AM — Professor Kristen Blankley's Presentation — "FINRA's Response to Virtual Arbitration"

10:50 AM — Professor Sarah Cole’s Presentation — "What the New Title IX Rules Mean for U.S. Universities and their 'Zoom Capabilities'"

11:30 AM — Lunch Break

12:00 PM — Ylli Dautaj’s Presentation — "Lessons of Efficacy Provided by COVID-19 Arbitral Practice"

12:40 PM — Professor Maureen Weston’s Presentation — "Arbitration and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics"

1:10 PM — Professor Bob Boland’s Presentation — "Are ADR Processes Working During a Global Health Crisis?"

1:50 PM — Closing Remarks

Professor Richard Bales, Ohio Northern University Law

• Rick Bales is a faculty member at Ohio Northern University Law (visiting at Peking School of Transnational Law - Shenzhen, China 2020-21). He teaches a wide variety of ADR and labor/employment courses, Torts, and Civil Procedure. He has published more than eighty scholarly articles and authored or co-authored eight books on a variety of topics related to labor/employment/ADR. His most recent book is Cambridge Handbook of US Labor Law: Reinventing Labor Law for the 21st Century (co-edited with Charlotte Garden). In addition to teaching and writing, Rick is a part-time labor arbitrator. He is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and serves on FMCS and AAA panels.

Professor Kristen Blankley, Nebraska College of Law

Kristen Blankley is a faculty member at Nebraska College of Law. Professor Blankley teaches Alternative Dispute Resolution, Advocacy in Mediation, Mediation, Family Mediation, Arbitration, Facilitation, and Legal Professions. She first became interested in the field of alternative dispute resolution while in law school, where she earned a Certificate in Dispute Resolution. Her research has largely focused on the crossroads of alternative dispute resolution and ethics and on contemporary issues in arbitration law. Professor Blankley is an active member of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution. She was appointed as a member of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Council in 2016. Additionally, she serves on the American Bar Association Law School Division Arbitration Competitions Committee, which oversees the annual law school Arbitration Competition. Professor Blankley is also a practicing mediator and arbitrator in Nebraska. Professor Blankley also instituted and coaches the Nebraska Mediation Competition for students. This competition teaches students how to be effective mediators and advocates for their clients in mediation. Professor Blankley sits on the Board of Directors of The Mediation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is a past member of the Board of Directors and former Board President of the Nebraska Mediation Association. She also serves as the Secretary of the Advisory Council for the Nebraska Office of Dispute Resolution. Professor Blankley currently sits as a co-chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution Subcommittee on Ethics. Professor Blankley has experience as an arbitrator and mediator. She is on a member of the FINRA roster of arbitrators, for consumer and employment cases in the area of securities. She mediates in a wide variety of dispute, including civil, family, collective bargaining, and workplace disputes. She is also an approved Parenting Act Mediator in Nebraska. 

Professor Sarah Rudolph Cole, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

Sarah Cole is a faculty member at Ohio State, Mortiz College of Law and has focused her research on the legal and policy issues that have arisen as a result of the increased use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). She teaches primarily in the ADR area, but has also taught Torts, Labor Law, and Administrative Law. Professor Cole has published articles in U.C. Davis Law Review, Houston Law Review, BYU Law Review, Georgia Law Review, Hastings Law Journal, the UNLV Law Review, and the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution.

Professor Cole is co-author, with Professors Nancy H. Rogers, Craig McEwen, Jim Coben, and Peter Thompson of Mediation: Law, Policy and Practice (3d. ed. 2011), the leading treatise in the field of mediation, and co-author with Nancy H. Rogers, Frank Sander and Stephen Goldberg of Dispute Resolution: Negotiation, Mediation and Other Processes (7th ed. 2020), one of the leading dispute resolution casebooks in the country.

In 2020, she published with Oxford University Press, Discussions in Dispute Resolution, with Andrea Schneider and Art Hinshaw, eds. In 2019, she was named Michael E. Moritz Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution and was previously the John W. Bricker Professor of Law.  In 2012, she also received the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching from the Ohio State University. In 2006, she became Director of the Program on Dispute Resolution.

She is past chair of the Dispute Resolution Committee for the AALS and a regular speaker on ADR topics at national meetings. She was a member of the academic advisory faculty that consulted with NCCUSL and the ABA regarding the drafting of the Uniform Mediation Act. She is also on the panel of arbitrators for AAA, OCB, OCSEA, FINRA, OSTA, and SERB in Ohio.

Additionally, Professor Cole’s work was mentioned in two amicus curiae briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Hall Street Associates v. Mattel. One brief was filed by the New England Legal Foundation and the other was filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation. Professor Cole was also cited in the Hall Street Associates reply brief.

Ylli Dautaj, Managing Partner of DER Legal

Ylli Dautaj is the Managing Partner of DER Legal. He has experience from practicing, teaching, and conducting research in various jurisdictions – including, India, Sweden, USA, UK, Turkey, and Ireland.  Ylli teaches as a guest lecturer on Uppsala University’s LL.M. programme on Investment Treaty Arbitration and is also an Assistant Editor on the Kluwer Arbitration Blog.  He has taught at one of India’s premier law schools, Jindal Global Law School.

Ylli has published extensively, including in reputable journals such as: Brill Research Perspectives; Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies; Manchester Journal of International Economic Law; Bologna Law Review; Stockholm Arbitration Yearbook; Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution; and Dispute Resolution Journal, etc.  He is currently a Ph.D. researcher at the University of Edinburgh, where he is the recipient of the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities studentship.

Ylli’s research is focused on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. He focuses primarily on the defence of sovereign immunity from the execution of arbitral awards. His significant clients or cases include Investment and commercial matters against commercial parties, States, and State-owned entities pursuant to the ICC Rules, SCC Rules, LCIA Rules, FAI Rules, etc.  Svea Court of Appeal (consultancy on setting-aside procedures) and litigation in Stockholm District Court, Nacka District Court, Nyköping District Court, etc.

Professor Maureen Weston, Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law

Maureen Weston is a faculty member at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law and Director of the Entertainment, Media & Sports Dispute Resolution Project. Professor Weston teaches courses on arbitration, mediation, negotiation, international dispute resolution, legal ethics, and U.S. and international sports law. She serves as Faculty Advisor to the Sports & Entertainment Law Society and Dispute Resolution Journal, and as coach for ICC Mediation Advocacy and Sports & Entertainment Law Negotiation competitions. Weston has taught law at the University of Oklahoma, University of Colorado, University of Las Vegas Nevada, Hamline, and in Oxford, England. Prior to teaching, Weston practiced law with Holme Roberts & Owen and Faegre & Benson in Colorado. She is actively involved in programs furthering opportunities for students to gain experience in negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Her committee service includes the ABA, Law School Division, Arbitration Competition, AALS Sports Law Executive Committee, and former chair of the ABA Dispute Resolution Education Committee and Representation in Mediation Competition. She is a member on the Boards of Directors at the University of Colorado School of Law Alumni Board, the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette School of Law, Malibu Little League, and Editorial Board of LawInSport. A frequent speaker at conferences, Weston is co-author of casebooks on sports law and arbitration and has written numerous articles in the area of Olympic and International Sports Arbitration, disability law, sports law, and dispute resolution.

Robert Boland, Athletics Integrity Officer of the Office of Ethics & Compliance at Penn State University, Adjunct Professor at Penn State Law

Robert A. Boland joined Penn State University as Athletics Integrity Officer in July 2017. In this role, he works to ensure the Athletics Department is meeting all University standards related to integrity, ethics, staff and student conduct and welfare, as well as NCAA and Big Ten standards. The position, the first of its kind, was created in August 2012 in an agreement with the NCAA, Big Ten and Penn State. It was charged with oversight and reporting of internal and external investigations into athletics. With that agreement expiring in August 2017, the University is maintaining the position as part of its own broader Athletic Integrity Program. Boland chairs the University’s Athletics Integrity Council, a group that brings together senior administrators and faculty to review matters related to athletics and reports to the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer and the Board of Trustees.

Boland also brings more than 20 years of legal experience to the role. He has been an administrative law judge in New York City, a confidential assistant to a State Supreme Court Justice and an assistant district attorney.  For more than a decade he was an active player agent negotiating more than 100 sports contracts and endorsement agreements. He has also advised a range of boutique clients including pro franchise purchase groups, pro teams, universities and conferences. 

Additionally, Boland is an adjunct professor at Penn State Law where he teaches “Representing the Professional Athlete.”