CNDR Hosts Career Panel for Young ADR Professionals

The Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (CNDR) at UC Law SF is known internationally for it’s leading ADR courses and programs, but CNDR also keeps its focus on students. Over one-third of Hastings students taking CNDR’s offerings annually, and many go on to find careers in the ADR field, or find ways to bring ADR into their work.

There are many options in ADR beyond litigating and then retiring as a mediator, so the career panel on February 11, 2020 sought to highlight some younger professionals and their unique paths to working in dispute resolution, including government and nonprofit work in particular. This panel even featured two Hastings alums!

• Mattie Robertson (’10): Deputy Director of CNDR at Hastings, which oversees the school’s dispute resolution classes and programs. She has mediated over 300 cases, trained numerous new mediators, and managed two volunteer mediation programs at local nonprofits and in the Alameda County Superior Courts.
• Noah Frigault (’13): Operations Director for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC), the City’s agency for discrimination investigations and racial equity work.  He conducted mediations for the HRC for several years and has lectured with the Hastings Mediation Clinic.
• Cordell Wesselink: Mediation Supervisor at Consortium, which collaborates with public child welfare agencies, families, the court to provide better outcomes for children in foster care. He has a Masters in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding, and founded Corelink Services, dedicated to transforming relationships with communication, collaboration and peaceful conflict resolution.
• Karis Johnston: Mediation and Training Manager at CRC Santa Cruz, which offers affordable, accessible mediation and training to the community. She holds a master’s degree from the School for International Training in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation.