HARRISBURG (April 12, 2018) — The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee will present its Sir Francis Bacon Alternative Dispute Resolution Award to Pittsburgh-based Robert A. Creo of Impartial Dispute Resolution Services on May 10 at the Annual Meeting Awards Luncheon at the Hershey Lodge, Hershey.
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.”
Creo has 40 years of practical experience in the dispute resolution field as an attorney, author, arbitrator, mediator, special master, educator and mentor to interns and novice arbitrators/mediators. Since being trained in mediation in 1979, he has spent more than 6,000 days as a neutral for a wide range of cases, including personal injury, business, employment, intellectual property and health care.
A leader in his field, Creo was the founding chair of the Allegheny County Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. He also developed several mediation programs in Pittsburgh, including one used by the Realtors Association of Pittsburgh. On the state level, Creo led efforts to draft and enact the mediation privilege statute of the Pennsylvania Judicial Code during his time as chair of the PBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. He was also instrumental in developing a comprehensive resource for the state, writing the 1,600-page Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Pennsylvania Practitioner in 2006.
Much of Creo’s career has been devoted to educating law students and lawyers on topics related to alternative dispute resolution. He taught courses on labor arbitration in 1981 at the Philip Murray Institute of Community College of Allegheny County and the Penn State University Union Leadership Academy. Creo served as an adjunct professor teaching a course on alternative dispute resolution at Duquesne University School of Law from 1991 to 2004. From 2003 to 2011, he taught international alternative dispute resolution at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. In addition, Creo continues to teach judgement and decision making at Duquesne Law School and participate in continuing legal education seminars for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and various bar groups.
He also writes on the topics of mediation, arbitration, decision-making and effective lawyering in two monthly columns: The Master Mediator for the International Institute of Conflict Prevention and Resolution and The Effective Lawyer for PBA’s The Pennsylvania Lawyer. Creo co-authors a blog, Gray Matters, for the Expert Analysis section of Law360.
Outside of the United States, Creo co-founded Mediators Beyond Borders, a charitable humanitarian organization promoting peace in troubled communities, in 2006. He served as its treasurer until 2009 and led an initiative to educate, rehabilitate and relocate 100 former child soldiers involved in the Liberia civil wars from the U.N. Buduburam Refugee camp in Ghana.
For his demonstrated leadership in the field, Creo has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers and Pittsburgh Magazine, as well as listed as one of the Top 50 Lawyers in Pittsburgh in 2011. He received the Best Lawyers’ distinction of Mediator of the Year for Pittsburgh in 2014 and 2017.
In addition to the PBA and Allegheny County Bar Association, he is a member of the American Bar Association Labor and Dispute Resolution sections, International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, Court of Arbitration for Sport, Decision Analysis Society, International Society for Labor and Security Law, Labor and Employment Relations Association, Master Mediator Institute that he co-founded, Mediation Council of Western Pennsylvania, National Academy of Arbitrators, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, Pennsylvania Council of Mediators, Society of Federal Labor Relations Professionals, Society for Judgement and Decision Making, Western Pennsylvania Council of Mediators, World Intellectual Property Organization and World Mediation Forum.
Creo is affiliated with the following designating agencies and organizations: ADR Chambers Canada, ADR Systems of America, American Arbitration Association, CoralBridge Partners, Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland, CPR Panel of Distinguished Neutrals, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, Mediation and Conciliation Network, National Mediation Board, Pennsylvania Bureau of Mediation, Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, Resolute Systems LLC and ADR Roster of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Creo received a B.A. from Brandeis University in 1974 and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law in 1977.
For more details on the May 10 luncheon or the PBA Annual Meeting, visit http://www.pabar.org/pdf/2018/2018AnnualMeetingBrochure.pdf.
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 26,000 lawyers who are members of the association.