HARRISBURG (April 10, 2015) - The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee will present its Sir Francis Bacon Alternative Dispute Resolution Award to Stephen G. Yusem of Blue Bell on May 6 during the association's Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.
The Sir Francis Bacon Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant impact in bringing mediation and other forms of dispute resolution to Pennsylvania. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was a Renaissance writer who served British monarchs in a legal capacity as knight, attorney general and solicitor. He authored the essay, "Of Negotiating," which featured the frequently-quoted line, "It is generally better to deal by speech than by letter, and by the mediation of a third than by a man's self."
Yusem is an adjunct professor of law (dispute resolution) at Cornell University Law School. He previously served as a member of the commercial arbitration faculty of the American Arbitration Association. He has served as a faculty member of the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the educational arm of the PBA.
Active in the organized bar, Yusem is a past chair of the PBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. He is a past president of the Montgomery Bar Association and past chair of its Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. He served as the founding president of the Montgomery Bar Foundation.
He recently chaired the Commercial and Personal Injury Subcommittee of the Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission Advisory Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution. He is a past director of the Association for Conflict Resolution.
He holds mediator accreditation from the Center for Effective Dispute Resolution. He is certified as a mediator by the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He is certified as both an arbitrator and mediator by Construction Dispute Resolution Services.
Yusem is a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Yusem earned an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and a juris doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association strives to promote justice, professional excellence and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access to legal services; and serve the 27,000 lawyers who are members of the association.