BUFFALO, NEW YORK — Lippes Mathias partner, co-leader of the firm's Indian law practice team, and team leader of the firm's alternative dispute resolution practice team, Hon. Carol E. Heckman (Ret.), will present during a panel titled "Eliminating Barriers to Use of Arbitration by Tribal Government" at the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution's annual spring conference on Thursday, May 12. The event will take place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The panel will discuss the evolving economic development opportunities for tribal governments and the importance of dispute resolution procedures as they expand their economic base. Specific topics to be covered include the issues that arise when tribal governments consider arbitration as an alternative to litigation, experience in the gaming compact context, qualifications for neutrals, and best practices for drafting arbitration clauses.

Judge Heckman will be joined by a distinguished group of panelists, including Riyaz Kanji, Esq. from Kanji & Katzen P.L.L.C.; Paula Hart, Esq., Director of Office of Indian Gaming, Bureau of Indian Affairs, US Department of Interior; Chloe Villagomez, Esq., Principal at Foster Garvey; and Darren Root, Esq., Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

With more than 40 years of experience as a trial lawyer and judge, Judge Heckman (Ret.) has an active practice as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and conducts arbitrations in most major metropolitan areas with a particular concentration in New York City. In addition to arbitrations and mediations, Judge Heckman was selected as a fellow to the College of Commercial Arbitrators, an exclusive group of commercial arbitrators representing the best in the United States, where she serves as co-chair of the Education Committee. Judge Heckman also engages in litigation counseling and trial work for American Indian tribes and a group of business clients, providing representation in government investigations, complex commercial matters, taxation, and gaming. She has tried numerous cases as a lawyer, a judge, and an arbitrator in a broad range of disputes. Judge Heckman served as a magistrate judge in the Western District of New York for eight years where she was selected to sit on the Federal Judicial Conference’s Education Committee for Magistrate Judges and served as an officer in the Federal Magistrate Judges Association. She has also served as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. an assistant U.S. attorney in Buffalo, New York, and as a law clerk for Hon. John T. Curtin, former chief judge of the Western District of New York.

Lippes Mathias is a full-service law firm with nearly 170 attorneys serving clients regionally, nationally, and internationally. With offices in Buffalo, Albany, Rochester, Long Island, New York, and Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Greater Toronto Area; Chicago, Ill.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Cleveland, Ohio; San Antonio, Texas; and Washington, D.C., the firm represents publicly and privately-owned companies, private equity and venture capital firms, real estate developers, financial institutions, municipalities, governmental entities, and individuals.