C09 - Not Everything Belongs in Court: Rethinking Public Dispute Resolution (2026ClC-C09)

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

2:00 PM to 3:30 PM

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The Trial and Appellate Track

Presented by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section

About the Program

We are at risk of losing confidence in how public decisions are made and problems are solved and communities feel that they are being torn apart. In a polarized time, when addressing community concerns, building public facilities or making policy decisions it can feel hard to see common ground. This session will identify the structure and opportunities to use facilitation, regulatory negotiation, consensus building, deliberative dialogue and collaborative governance processes that can be used to bring people together for thoughtful and civil problem solving.  We will use Connecticut examples from the perspectives of the facilitator, process convener and stakeholder participant and reference the use of these processes for environmental, transportation, municipal infrastructure and community discussions on other issues such as immigration, elections, healthcare and gun control.

You Will Learn

How the use of facilitation, regulatory negotiation, consensus building, deliberative dialogue and collaborative governance processes can be used to bring people together for thoughtful and civil problem solving

Who Should Attend

Anyone interested in learning about ways to help stakeholders find voice, arrive at consensus policy decisions and better ways to resolve difficult and controversial public issues.

Credit

CT: 1.5 CLE Credit (General)
NY: 1.5 CLE Credit (AOP)

The Connecticut Bar Association/CT Bar Institute is an accredited provider of New York State CLE. This program qualifies for newly admitted and experienced attorneys CLE credits. 

Attorneys seeking NY CLE credit who have been admitted to the New York State Bar for two years or less must attend the live seminar for skills or ethics credit, a fully interactive videoconference, or simultaneous transmission with synchronous interactivity. Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias CLE credits are only available as non-transitional credits. For further information please see the NYCourts.gov page on CLE: http://ww2.nycourts.gov/attorneys/cle/index.shtml. 

Speakers

LDP1 Loraine M. Della Porta
Resolution Collaborative, Cranston, RI

Eric Hammerling1 Eric Hammerling
Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, Hartford

WDL1 William DeVane Logue
Logue Group, West Hartford

ABP1 Amy Blaymore Patterson
Connecticut Land Conservation Council, Middletown