Arbitration and ADR Committee (Trial Lawyers)

Committee Co-Chairs

Michele Kern-Rappy, Esq.

Michele Kern-Rappy Dispute Resolution

Michele Kern Rappy is a trusted, highly skilled neutral for complex civil disputes and former Senior Mediator and Settlement Coordinator of the renowned Court Mediation Program that she created. Ms Kern-Rappy now the CEO of her own alternative dispute resolution practice: Michele Kern-Rappy Dispute Resolution.

Ms. Kern-Rappy established the widely acclaimed mediation non-jury (Med-NJ) program early in her court career. As the only mediator and settlement coordinator in this unique program, she has mediated well over 6500 disputes involving premises liability, construction, labor law, personal injury, insurance coverage, malpractice, product liability, commercial litigation, employment law, and family business. Ms Kern-Rappy has successfully used her using her RAISE Method, a mediation technique to help litigators prepare and strategize during a pending high conflict litigation.

Ms Kern Rappy serves on numerous ADR advisory panels for the bench and bar including ADR Faculty at the Judicial Institute, and she is the former co-chair of the attorney advocacy subcommittee of the DR Section of the NYSBA, former Co- Chair of the ADR section of the New York Women’s Bar Association, member of the Prestigious Chief Judges Statewide ADR Advisory committee, and sits on the the NYCBA, Dispute Resolution Committee. Among others, she is a proud member of the Task Force on Mental Health for Attorneys of Westchester. She sits on many prestigious Panels including AAA, American Arbitration Association Commercial Panel of Arbitrators and many prestigious Statewide rosters including serving as Special Master for the First Department, on the Statewide Panel of Neutrals of the Commercial and Civil Divisions of New York County, Bronx County Nassau County, Suffolk County, Richmond County and Buffalo County.

In addition to her prestigious legal career, Ms Kern-Rappy is a certified Yoga and Mindfulness teacher and she taught “Courthouse Yoga” to the Judiciary at the Supreme Court for years.

Tania Pagan

The Pagan Law Firm, P.C., New York, NY
Tania Pagan has over thirty years’ experience in her private practice at The Pagan Law Firm, P.C. where she litigates cases from inception through trial readiness and appeals in complex medical malpractice and personal injury cases. She is simultaneously a trusted mediator who is sought for her skill in guiding parties through conflict to reach settlements in high exposure and contested civil matters.

As a litigator, Tania Pagan is an advocate for seriously injured plaintiffs. She provides complex planning for totally disabled and mentally incapacitated plaintiffs, brain damaged at birth infants requiring life care needs and MIF enrollment, and decedents’ estate allocations and distributions in death actions. She negotiates lien resolutions, establishes structured settlements, trusts, and Medicare set asides, and obtains court approvals in guardianship, administration, and compromise proceedings.

Tania Pagan’s interpersonal and communication skills are the foundation for her success as an attorney and mediator. She is a perpetual student of law and is known for her breadth of knowledge and excellent preparation. Simultaneously, she is well regarded by colleagues and the courts for her congeniality, fairness, and integrity.

Tania Pagan is a privately retained mediator through her company, Mediating Disputes, Inc. She has trained in civil, commercial, and personal injury mediation through Part 146 advanced level, at Harvard Law School’s Executive Education Program on Negotiations: Mediating Disputes, NYSBA, and New York Law School. She is a Special Master mediator, sworn on behalf of the NYS Unified Court System, at a Supreme Court Civil Term, and on assignment through city-wide ADR programs.

Tania Pagan received her J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law and joined the New York State Bar in 1990. She is admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of NY. She is an active member of multiple bar associations and currently serves as Treasurer of NYSBA’s Trial Lawyers Section and Chairs their Arbitration and ADR Committee, and serves as Co-Chair of the NYWBA’s ADR Committee.