May 11, 2005

Contact: Anne-Marie Burton 202-464-9700, ext. 247

ACR Announces New Membership Category for Experienced Arbitrators:
Workplace Section’s Labor and Employment Arbitrator Advanced Practitioner

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) has established a new Advanced Practitioner membership designation for experienced labor and employment arbitrators. This is the third such senior practitioner designation to be offered by ACR, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the practice and public understanding of conflict resolution; experienced workplace mediators and family mediators are also eligible for Advanced Practitioner membership status.

“Arbitration of workplace disputes is a significant ADR process in America,” stated Richard D. Fincher, a member of ACR’s Board of Directors and a leader in its Workplace Section. “I am thrilled ACR has recognized and embraced this group of neutrals.”

Beginning May 1, ACR’s Workplace Section now offers an Advanced Practitioner—Labor and Employment Arbitrator membership for qualifying arbitrators. The Workplace Section awards applicants Advanced Practitioner—Labor and Employment Arbitrator status based on verification of a minimum of 35 countable cases as an Arbitrator or Hearing Officer in labor and/or employment issues. Current members of the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA) will be accepted as having the sufficient experience of countable cases.

“Historically, ACR has deep roots in labor arbitration. This membership designation creates a special ‘community of colleagues’ with a commitment to the practice of labor and employment arbitration,” says Nancy E. Peace, a labor arbitrator and former ACR president.

For a description of countable cases, other qualification requirements, and the application procedure, please visit ACR’s website at http://www.ACRnet.org, or go directly to: http://www.ACRnet.org/referrals/ap-workplace_arb.htm. For more information concerning ACR’s Advanced Practitioner membership and the Labor and Employment Arbitrator designation, please go to the ACR website or contact ACR’s Workplace Section Co-Chairs, Nancy E. Peace (npeace@igc.org) and Patricia “Pattie” Porter (pmporter@conflictconnections.com).

About the Association for Conflict Resolution

The Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) is the nation’s largest conflict resolution membership organization. ACR’s membership is comprised of more than 6,500 members from all facets of the conflict resolution field, including arbitrators, mediators, mediation organizations, program administrators and conflict resolution educators. ACR was launched in January 2001, when the Academy of Family Mediators (AFM), the Conflict Resolution Education Network (CREnet), and the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR) officially merged into one organization.

(5/11/2005)