Letter from the Board

The theme of this edition of the magazine is practice development. Practice development and maintenance is critical to dispute resolution professionals to maintain their high level of service, to enhance their effectiveness, and to sustain a robust business. Fostering a mindset of continuous learning and growth helps us evaluate our work and stay engaged, motivated, and innovative. And all of these are crucial for long-term sustainability. Practice development is not only good for each individual, it is good for the field as a whole. With that in mind, the Section sees itself as an important provider of programming and has put practice development opportunities at the top of its agenda. The Editorial Board hopes to both echo and amplify these messages.

We expect that many readers, like us when we first came into the field, felt like they could not get enough programming and training to hone both substantive thinking and skills. And as we matured in our careers, we found that there are many other very important aspects to maintaining a dispute resolution business for which we had little to no training. As a result, this issue strives to address practice development issues that should appeal to many, regardless of career stage. For example, how should one market their services both in general through word of mouth and in specific places like Linkedin; how to use traditional media to enhance one’s reputation; how to leverage skills across disciplines; and what factors to considering when determining how to start a mediation session.

And we have our regular columns On Professional Practice by Sharon Press and Research Insights by James Coben, and Nadja Alexander, which are always informative.

Practice development is an ongoing journey that evolves with one’s career, requiring both business skill and substantive expertise. We believe you will find this issue provides valuable learning insight and practical guidance for any stage in one’s career, inspiring the kind of thoughtful reflection that continues the growth and excellence of the field.

Finally, this issue closes with a frank discussion of one of the many difficult decisions the Section’s Council has had to make recently in light of long-term on-going financial difficulties. We trust that you will understand that their choice to suspend publication of the magazine comes from a place of caring, as we do, even if we wish that circumstances were different and such a decision did not have to be made.