Events
Emerging technologies are at the heart of a growing number of disputes. Technology increasingly impacts the merits of patent, SEP/FRAND, licensing, and related infringement disputes. Meanwhile, next generation assets, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, are at the centre of business transactions. At the same time, today’s world is increasingly populated by content created by generative technology (artificial intelligence), which may give rise to challenges and conflicts through defamation by large language models, the use of copyright protected content to train algorithms, automated decision making, and the imitation of style by generative AI.
Join the Let’s Discuss peer-to-peer networking event as we navigate the latest landscape of how technology is changing the world of dispute resolution. We will aim to identify challenges and related best practices to help prevent you and your expertise from becoming obsolete.
Moderators: Ryan Abbott M.D. Esq. FCIArb, Eduardo Benavides FCIArb, Kiran Nasir Gore, Shirish Gupta, Barbara A. Reeves Esq. FCIArb and Laura A. Kaster FCIArb.
This Let's Discuss session is sponsored by JAMS. Register now!
All times listed are in GMT.
Let’s Discuss is a new series of virtual events brought to you by Ciarb. The series is free for Ciarb members.
Throughout 2023 we will be running a series of virtual events, hosted by members for members. These will get under the skin of the things that really matter in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) around the world and talk about the issues that matter to you. They will be a great opportunity to learn, discuss and meet new connections.
This years’ Lets Discuss series will be centred around several key areas: adjudication, mediation, technology, and diversity and inclusion.
Each area will have a several events, spread throughout the year, each focusing on a relevant topic. It’s up to you, our members to decide, what those topics will be. Join us for the Let’s Discuss sessions and influence the conversation with your ideas, learn from fellow ADR professionals and shape the future discussion around topics that matter to you.
We will confirm events as we go through the year to ensure they are always based on the most relevant issues of the moment.
Event Speakers
Dr. Ryan Abbott, M.D. Esq. FCIArb has mediated and arbitrated more than fifty disputes domestically and internationally, since joining JAMS, with collectively hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. He has particular experience in the fields of intellectual property and health care, and offers unique expertise in such matters as biologics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical and life sciences, computer technology and distributed ledger technology. Dr. Abbott divides his time between Los Angeles, New York, and London.
Dr. Abbott has served as partner at a litigation firm and general counsel of biotechnology companies. In these capacities, he has substantial ADR experience as outside and inside counsel for both claimants and respondents. He has also worked as an expert for the European Commission, the United Kingdom Parliament, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Dr. Abbott is a licensed physician and patent attorney in the United States (California and New York) and a solicitor advocate in England and Wales. He is board certified by the American Board of Legal Medicine. In addition to serving as a JAMS neutral, he is a CPR, WIPO, IACT, SIAC, and United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) panelist, a CEDR-accredited mediator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). He has a reputation for rigorous preparation, engagement and adaptability.
Kiran Nasir Gore is an arbitrator, dispute resolution consultant, and counsel in Washington, DC with fifteen years of experience in public and private international law, international development, foreign investment strategies, international dispute resolution, and legal investigation and compliance efforts.
Kiran draws upon her expertise as an educator in the International and Comparative Law Program at The George Washington University Law School. In Spring 2022, she was invited to develop and teach a new course for GW Law called The Global Economy & International Disputes. The course launched with enrollment exceeding capacity and received glowing reviews.
She is co-editor and co-author of two new books: The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in Investor-State Disputes: History, Evolution, and Future (Kluwer, 2022) and International Investment Law and Investor-State Disputes in Central Asia: Emerging Issues (Kluwer, 2023). She is also a member of the ICC's Task Force on ADR and Arbitration. She recently launched an online newsletter, Law & Global (Dis)Order, which analyses issues at the intersection of international law, dispute resolution, business and technology - it has several thousand subscribers in over 30 different countries.
Shirish Gupta is an award-winning neutral known for his legal acumen and economic prowess, which makes him particularly adept at diving into complex financial/technical disputes, including IP, securities and accounting, and class actions. Shirish is sought out by Silicon Valley startups, as well as Fortune 500 companies. In 2014, The Recorder conducted an extensive survey of Bay Area attorneys and named Shirish the Best Independent Mediator.
Shirish is an active, hands-on mediator who works with the parties until the matter is fully resolved. For example, he once mediated a global settlement of all 36 pending and contemplated actions.
Prior to joining JAMS, Shirish practiced law with Mayer Brown, Howard Rice and Flashpoint Law. His practice focused on the areas he specializes in as a neutral – commercial, securities, class actions, IP, founder disputes and employment.
In 2013, Shirish's mediation skills were recognized when he was recruited to mediate Superstorm Sandy insurance coverage claims in New York. At the peak, he was mediating and resolving 4 claims per day. In 2016-2018, Shirish recognized the ongoing harm caused by Sandy and helped resolve homeowner flood insurance claims in New York and New Jersey, taking the time to learn the homeowner’s concerns and helping explain the intricacies of FEMA’s flood insurance policies.
Shirish serves as a Lecturer at UC Berkeley Law School and an Adjunct Professor at UC Hastings. He is sought out by law firms and in-house departments for mediation and negotiation trainings.
Shirish has been a leader in the majority and diverse bar associations. Shirish served as Co-Chair of the California State Bar Council of Sections, President of the South Asian Bar of Northern California and Alternate Regional Governor of National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
When not mediating, Shirish can usually be found on a soccer pitch refereeing.
Laura has served as chair, wing, and solo arbitrator on over one hundred commercial, IP, patent, software, medical device, and drug development disputes as well as telecom disputes of all kinds, including billing disputes among carriers. She has mediated more that 300 matters, including international trademark disputes, patent and IP disputes, family business disputes, business disruption cases and other insurance disputes, commercial property disputes, employment and securities matters and a wide variety of complex contract disputes.
Laura is a past Chair of the NYSBA Dispute Resolution Section 2020-2021. From 2015-2017, Laura was the President of the Justice Marie L. Garibaldi ADR Inn of Court, the first ADR Inn in the country. She is also a past Chair of the NJSBA Dispute Resolution Section and a Co-Editor in Chief of the NYSBA’s journal, Dispute Resolution Lawyer. She is the 2018 recipient of the Jeydel Award from the Garibaldi Inn for ADR Excellence and Civility and the 2014 recipient of the NJSBA’s Boskey Award for the ADR practitioner of the year. She is a co-author on chapters in Halket, The Arbitration of International IP Disputes 2 ed. (2020); Singer, Arbitrating Commercial Disputes in the United States (Practicing Law Institute, 2d Edition, 2020); co-editor and chapter author of the CCA Guide to Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration (4th Ed 2017); co- author “Arbitrating Technology Cases: Considerations for Businesspeople and Advocates”, in Samaras (Ed) ADR Advocacy, Strategies, and Practices for Intellectual Property and Technology Cases. She is on the Roster of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.
Laura is on the Tech List of leading technology neutrals for the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center, an arbitrator and mediator for the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), for the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), and an arbitrator for FINRA; on the panel of the Global Mediation Exchange Center. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration (FCIArb) and of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and a member of the Pepperdine, CCA and IMI Task Force on Mixed Modes. Laura is a member of the global panel for CEDR (Center for Effective Dispute Resolution), a CEDR accredited mediator and has been certified as a mediator by the International Mediation Institute (IMI). Laura was selected for and recently reappointed to the Master Mediator Panel of the American Arbitration Association and is recognized in Who's Who Law, Mediation 2016-2022
Prior to becoming a full-time neutral, Laura was Chief Litigation Counsel at AT&T and prior to that, a partner in the law firm Jenner & Block in Chicago, where she worked for 22 years. Just out of law school, she clerked for then Chief Judge Frank M. Coffin of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Barbara A. Reeves is an arbitrator, mediator, and special master with JAMS in Los Angeles, California. She has more than 17 years’ experience arbitrating and mediating the range of commercial business disputes including intellectual property, antitrust, employment, construction, insurance coverage, and entertainment. A graduate of Harvard Law School, she clerked for the Ninth Circuit, was a trial attorney and section chief with the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, a partner in major law firms (Morrison & Foerster, Fried Frank, Paul Hastings) and associate general counsel at a major electric utility holding company.