NAALJ 2021 Midyear Webinar

Decisions, Decisions: How (and How Not) to Make Them

May 14, 2021

Webinar runs from

1:00pm - 4:30pm Eastern Time / 12:00pm - 3:30pm Central Time / 11:00am - 2:30pm Mountain Time / 10:00am - 1:30pm Pacific Time

click here to register

(Times below are all Pacific Time)

1. 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. (PDT) — Plain English for Judges

Amy Sloan, Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law

2. 10:55 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. (PDT) — Mindful Judging and Decision-Making

Hon. Jeremy Fogel (Ret.), Executive Director, Berkeley Judicial Institute, UC Berkeley Law School

3. 11:50 a.m. to 12:35 p.m. (PDT) — Tips for Effective Settlement Conferences

Hon. Raymond E. Kramer, Director of the Center for Creative Conflict Resolution and Administrative Judicial Institute, New York City Office of Administrative Trials & Hearings

Hon. Kara J. Miller, Administrative Law Judge, New York City Office of Administrative Trials & Hearings

4. 12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. (PDT) — Combating Cognitive Bias in Judicial Decision-Making

Hon. Melissa Lin Jones, Board Member and Administrative Appeals Judge, U.S. Department of Labor, Benefit Review Board

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Credit Information

Participants are responsible for filing a Certificate of Attendance form provided after the webcast with their states’ Continuing Legal Education Commissions, Boards or State Bar where required. While NAALJ’s educational programs have been regularly approved by CLE Commissions, Boards or State Bars, participants must follow their states’ specific filing rules to have CLE credits considered for approval.

Speaker Bios

Amy Sloan is a Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law and joined the faculty in 2001. From 2001 until 2010, she led the Legal Skills Program jointly with Eric B. Easton. Prior to joining the faculty, she taught at The George Washington University Law School, where she directed the Legal Research and Writing Program, and at the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law. She served as an associate of the George Washington Law Review and as a law clerk to the Hon. William M. Nickerson and the Hon. Edward S. Northrop at the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

From 2013 to 2017, Sloan served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In that role, she managed academic matters within the school, including scheduling courses, advising students, working with adjunct faculty, and advising the dean and the faculty on curricular matters.

Sloan's scholarly interests include legal research and writing, classical and contemporary rhetoric, and appellate practice. She is active in the Association of Legal Writing Directors and is a member of the Pennsylvania and District of Columbia bars. She is the coauthor with the late Richard Wydick of Plain English for Lawyers (Carolina Academic Press), 6th ed. 2019.

Jeremy Fogel is the Executive Director of the Berkeley Law School Judicial Institute whose mission is to build bridges between judges and academics and to promote an ethical, resilient, and independent judiciary. Prior to his appointment at Berkeley, he served as Director of the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, DC (2011-2018), as a United States District Judge for the Northern District of California (1998-2011), and as a judge of the Santa Clara County Superior (1986-1998) and Municipal (1981-1986) Courts. He was the founding Directing Attorney of the Mental Health Advocacy Project from 1978 to 1981.

Fogel has served as a faculty member for the Federal Judicial Center since 2002 and was a lecturer at Stanford Law School from 2003 until his relocation to Washington. He has taught for the California Continuing Judicial Studies Program and California Judicial College. He has served as a faculty member for legal exchanges in more than a dozen foreign countries. He received his B.A. from Stanford University in 1971 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1974.

Judge Fogel has received numerous accolades, including the President’s Award for Outstanding Service to the California Judiciary from the California Judges Association and the Vanguard Award for notable contributions to intellectual property law from the State Bar of California. In 2002, he received special recognition from the Santa Clara County Bar Association for exemplifying the highest standards of professionalism in the judiciary.

Raymond E. Kramer is the Executive Director of the Center for Creative Conflict Resolution and Director of the Administrative Judicial Institute at the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). The Center serves as New York City government’s central resource for conflict resolution and restorative justice practices. The Institute provides educational programs, training, and workshops to New York City administrative law judges, hearing officers and administrative law practitioners. Judge Kramer is an experienced mediator and is an adjunct professor of law at New York University Law School, where he co-teaches the Mediation and Advanced Mediation: Dispute Systems Design Clinics. He is also an adjunct professor at New York University’s School of Professional Studies, where he teaches Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management in the Human Resources Master’s Degree program, and New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where he teaches Negotiation. He also teaches Dispute Resolution during summer sessions at the University of International Relations in Beijing, China.

Judge Kramer was appointed to the position of Administrative Law Judge at OATH in 1985. Prior to his tenure at OATH, he served one year as a VISTA volunteer attorney with the Statewide Youth Advocacy Project in Rochester, New York, four years as a trial attorney with the Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal Aid Society of New York and two years as a member of the clinical faculty at New York University Law School, where he taught the Juvenile Rights Clinic. Judge Kramer is a member of the New York City Bar Association, a Board member for the National Association of the Administrative Law Judiciary (NAALJ), and an immediate Past President of the New York State Administrative Law Judges Association (NYSALJA). He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

Kara J. Miller is an Administrative Law Judge for the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (“OATH”), a position which she has held for the past 17 years. She is responsible for training new judges on judicial settlement practices and frequently lectures to administrative law practitioners on settlement practices and process. Prior to becoming an ALJ at OATH, she was OATH’s Managing Attorney for three years. Judge Miller has also worked for the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission’s internal tribunal as an assistant chief ALJ and in its appeals unit. In addition, she worked as an Impartial Hearing Officer for the New York State Board of Education conducting special education hearings, and as an administrative law judge for the NYC Department of Finance Parking Violations tribunal.

Judge Miller is a graduate of Union College, The National Law Center at George Washington University, and Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business Administration. Judge Miller was an Adjunct Professor for over 20 years in the Business Law Department of Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business where she taught Business Law and Marketing and the Law.

Melissa Lin Jones was appointed as a Board Member and Administrative Appeals Judge with the U.S. Department of Labor, Benefit Review Board in October 2019. Prior to her appointment, Judge Jones was an Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration, an Administrative Appeals Judge with the D.C. Department of Employment Services’ Compensation Review Board, and an Administrative Law Judge with that department’s Office of Hearings and Adjudication, Administrative Hearings Division. Judge Jones has authored or contributed to numerous publications regarding workers’ compensation law and administrative adjudication and serves on the faculty of the National Judicial College.

Judge Jones has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from St. Bonaventure University, a Juris Doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law, and a Masters in Judicial Studies from the University of Nevada, Reno. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Judicial Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Attendance to the webinar will be through a link provided by NAALJ.

Attendees will receive a link to access the webinar approximately one week prior to the conference date.