Dr. Sukhsimranjit Singh Dr. Sukhsimranjit Singh’s career is built on the foundations of peaceful methods of
resolving difficult conflict. He looks forward to hearing from others and their stories.
His strong belief in building people up is rooted in hard work and in genuine human
connection and has trained more than three thousand business professionals, graduate
students in dispute resolution. Dr. Singh is Judge Danny Weinstein Managing Director
of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University Caruso School
of Law, where he also serves as Professor and Dean of Graduate Law Programs. Within
this capacity, Dr. Singh oversaw the Institute’s global outreach efforts, world-class
professional training programs, and rigorous academic curriculum. His expertise is
in advanced mediation, cross-cultural practice, faith-based mediation, and utilizing
modern theories, science, and technology to devise creative solutions for global disputes.
Dr. Singh has spoken in more than 50 countries. A two time TEDx Speaker, he is on
the JAMS Panel. He can be reached at singh@singhadr.com.
Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.) " Judge Danny" is one of the nation’s preeminent mediators of complex civil disputes. He is a pioneer
in the development of mediation and teaches and lectures to fellow mediators and lawyers
throughout the United States. Judge Weinstein is recognized as one of the premier
mediators of complex, multi-party, high-stake cases, both in the United States and
abroad. He is the recipient of the 2014 International Advocate for Peace Award from
the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, whose past honorees have included former
Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and Nobel
Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu. In January 2020, the Straus Institute for
Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, presented Judge Weinstein with
the Peacemaker Award, its highest honor. The award was last presented in 2013 to Archbishop
Desmond Tutu. In addition to his active mediation practice, Judge Weinstein is currently
the Distinguished Mediator in Residence at Pepperdine and teaching one week every
two months. Additionally, he directs the Weinstein International Foundation in its
endeavors in conflict resolution and training in the Middle East, Ukraine, Rwanda,
Zambia, Peru and other countries throughout the world.
Marc P. Goodman is Pepperdine University's general counsel and has served Pepperdine since 1999.
Goodman also serves as an adjunct professor of law at the Caruso School of Law, where
he teaches courses in entertainment, intellectual property, and communications law.
Prior to arriving at the University, Goodman was a partner with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips,
LLP; and clerked for the Honorable J. Lawrence Irving and the Honorable Earl B. Gilliam
in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Goodman
has presented on topics before many organizations including the National Association
of College and University Attorneys and at the Community College Conference on Legal
Issues. He has served on the United Educators' legal advisory board, was named the
2017 Nonprofit General Counsel of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal, and
received the 2018 First Chair Top General Counsels award. Goodman received his BA
in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, a master's in communications
management from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California, and
his JD from the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California.
David Dowling is the owner of Dowling Mediation Services, and an adjunct professor at the Straus
Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University, School of Law. David also
provides conflict and dispute resolution training for special education teachers,
administrators, and parents. He founded and directed (2009-2018) the Mediation Clinic
and Criminal Justice Dispute Resolution Clinic at Chapman University’s Fowler School
of Law. In 2017, his clinics received the Ninth Circuit’s Alternative Dispute Resolution
Award. David has taught Mediation and Negotiation skills to law students, lawyers,
judges and professors around the world. In 2016, he was invited to teach the first
Mediation Skills course in Kyiv, Ukraine at Taras Shevchenko National University and
for the past 7 years guest lecturer at the Law Society of Ireland.
Sebastian F. Winter, MD Ph.D., is a physician-neuroscientist, social entrepreneur, and policy analyst
working at the intersection of brain health, public policy, and societal cohesion.
As Head of Policy and Research at the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE), a global
non-state actor in official relations with WHO, he is developing holistic policy advocacy
strategies aimed at making epilepsy and other neurological conditions a public health
priority and fostering brain health globally. Prior to joining IBE, Dr. Winter served
as a neurology resident and scientist at Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Germany.
He is also an affiliate researcher in the Neurology Department at Massachusetts General
Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, and co-founder of the charitable
organization R3SOLUTE, which promotes mental health literacy, conflict prevention,
and peace-building among refugee communities in Germany.
Joyce A. Mitchell, Esq., is President of Joyce A Mitchell And Associates. She is a nationally recognized
attorney and professional in the field of alternative dispute resolution. Ms. Mitchell
has been practicing mediation since 1996 and has mediated more than 1500 cases. She
is a certified mediator in the states of Virginia and North Carolina. She is a skilled
negotiator and has had more than 300 hours of conflict resolution, multi-party facilitation,
and mediation training in various subject areas, levels, and mediation approaches.
She mediates for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and CPR the International
Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR). Joyce is on the roster of
mediators for several ADR private dispute resolution providers and mediates for them
nationwide for federal agencies. She conducts multi-party facilitation sessions, early
neutral evaluations, organizational and management inquiries, fact-finding, and speaks
at various professional associations’ meetings on the uses of ADR techniques. Some
of the subject matter presentations include Herding Cats The Power of Persuasion in
Mediation and Negotiation, Cognitive Barriers to Success in Resolving Disputes, The
Mediator in the Room, Be Your Best Negotiator, Negotiation in a Nutshell, Early Neutral
Evaluation.
Andrew Miller has almost 30 years of experience of dealing with and resolving commercial disputes
both domestically and internationally which makes him ideally suited as a commercial
mediator. He now practices as a KC Mediator in a wide range of commercial sectors,
including in the practice areas of construction, property damage, insurance and reinsurance,
professional negligence and general commercial disputes. Andrew continues to be based
at Temple Garden, a leading civil/commercial set of chambers. Andrew has been involved
in the mediation of disputes since 1996. He has experience of over 150 mediations
and has been involved in mediations both domestically and internationally. Andrew
has acted as lead mediator in commercial disputes valued at between £10,000 to £20,000,000.
He has been consistently recognised by clients and in the legal directories for his
strong negotiation and tactical skills. He is praised for his commercial approach
to the resolution of disputes, whether in the traditional litigation forum, arbitration
or through ADR. In the Legal 500 and Chambers UK Andrew has received considerable
praise over the years including reference to his “Excellent interpersonal skills…
he’s very user-friendly, effective and good to work with”, the fact that he “Always
extremely well prepared” and crucially that he is “Very pleasant to work with.”
Since acting as a mediator he has received glowing feedback and testimonials on his
performance and skill as a mediator.
Orit Asnin has been a full-time mediator for more than two decades. Previously a commercial
attorney, she specializes in commercial and inter-personal conflict management. Orit
has vast experience mediating multi-party disputes, and she often mediates conflicts
that are emotionally loaded with extreme cross-cultural differences. Orit has mediated
more than 5,000 conflicts with both Israeli parties as well as international ones.
Parties have included private and public companies, local and government authorities,
international and multinational corporations and individuals. She is also often asked
to help resolve “conflicts in the making” associated with internal and external business
and management crisis situations, and in situations involving board, committee, and
management team decision making processes, disagreements, and deadlocks. Orit is one
of Israel’s most experienced mediators and one of the pioneers in the field of mediation
in Israel. Her daily mediations since the end of the 1990s, as well as her public
work in the Israeli Bar, have greatly contributed to the current common use of mediation
in Israel. As frequent lecturer, panel participant and workshop instructor she shares
her experience in international conferences and forums, reflecting on the many aspects
and dimensions of mediation. Ms. Asnin serves as a co-chairperson of the Mediation
Committee of the Israeli Bar (Haifa branch). She had served as a vice chairperson
of the Section of Dispute Resolution and as a member of the Ethics Committee, of the
Israeli Bar. Orit Asnin is a distinguished fellow of the International Academy of
Mediators.
Helen Winter is an Assistant Professor of Law and Practice at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law,
teaching in the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. Professor Winter teaches
in the Straus Institute’s academic programs and professional training programs, and
provides mentorship and advisory services to international students. Professor Winter
holds a law degree with a focus on International Public Law from Heidelberg University,
and an LL.M in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine Caruso Law Straus Institute for
Dispute Resolution. Most recently she has served as a Research Fellow at the Program
on Negotiation at Harvard Law School while completing her Ph.D at European University
Viadrina in Germany. At Harvard, Professor Winter has been researching proven strategies
for bias reduction, and peer mediation mechanisms as a means to promote self-efficacy
for refugees and migrants. She has additionally been assisting with teaching, mentoring,
and training future mediators and ADR professionals around topics such as cross-cultural
mediation, systems design, and negotiation. Professor Winter has an extensive background
in mediation and intercultural dispute resolution. In addition to having served as
a guest lecturer at Harvard Law School, and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard
Law School, she has also worked at the European University of Viadrina. She further
has run her own mediation practice and co-founded R3SOLUTE, a charitable organization
based in Berlin which empowers refugees and locals to manage and prevent community
conflicts through dialogue and peer mediation. She has worked with the United Nations
Office of the Ombudsman and Mediation Services (UNOMS), addressing systemic issues.
Professor Winter also serves as an ambassador for the International Justice Mission
in Germany. Professor Winter has been published in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review,
and Conflict Resolution Quarterly and has been invited to speak at numerous events,
webinar series, and podcasts within the ADR community both nationally and internationally,
including at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. She hopes to use her position to continue
researching ways to foster agency and self-efficacy of underrepresented minorities
of society through a bottoms-up approach to ADR, while supporting the Pepperdine community.
Birgit Sambeth is Co-Head of our Dispute Resolution Team. As a former substitute Judge and judicial
Conciliator, acting as Mediator and as Arbitrator, she is acknowledged as a forward
thinking, holistic and strategic dispute resolution specialist, and is regularly appointed
as Neutral to prevent and resolve complex, international and domestic disputes in
commercial and international agency/distribution contracts, M&A transactions, construction
projects, employment and family/inheritance matters, often with cross cultural and
multi-language components. Listed among the “Thought Leaders - Mediation” by Who's
Who Legal since 2018, Birgit has been recognized as the “N° 1 most highly regarded
mediator in Switzerland”. She is accredited by a number of national and international
organizations, in particular: the Swiss Bar Association (FSA-SAV), the Swiss Chamber
of Commercial Mediation (SCCM), the International Mediation Institute (IMI), CEDR
London, CPR New York, VIAC Vienna, CMAP Paris, CAM Milan, CML Russia, Shenzhen Court
of Arbitration (South China) (SCIA), ICC, SCAI, TAS-CAS, INSOL and WIPO. In addition
to her activity as Neutral, Birgit is also frequently involved in company restructuring
and insolvency proceedings, acting as creditor representative or as liquidator and
trustee in the context of domestic and international bankruptcy and composition proceedings.