Strategies and Tips for Productive Negotiations
What to do and What not to do!

Panel Featuring:

Judge Eric Bruggink
U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Judge Nancy Firestone
U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Stephen D. Altman
Altman Dispute Resolution Services

James E. Brookshire
Executive Director, Federal Circuit Bar Association

Moderator:  Edward Passarelli
Deputy Chief, Natural Resources Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice

Wine and light hors d'oeuvres reception to follow!

Judge Bruggink was appointed Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims on April 15, 1986 and entered on duty April 21, 1986. He is a cum laude graduate of Auburn University, receiving a B.A. degree in sociology in 1971 and an M.A. degree in speech in 1972. Judge Bruggink received his J.D. in 1975 from the University of Alabama School of Law, where he was a Hugo Black Scholar and Note and Comments Editor of the Alabama Law Review.  Judge Bruggink was appointed Director, Office of Appeals Counsel of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board in November 1982, and served in that position until his appointment as Judge of the Court of Federal Claims. He formerly served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Frank H. McFadden of the Northern District of Alabama, and as an associate with the law firms of Steiner, Crum & Baker in Montgomery, Alabama, 1979-1982, and Hardwick, Hause & Segrest in Dothan, Alabama, 1976-1977. He was Assistant Director of the Alabama Law Institute from 1977 to 1979, during which time he established the Office of Energy and Environmental Law and served as its first director.

Judge Nancy Firestone was appointed Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims on October 22, 1998. She graduated from Washington University with a B.A. in 1973, and she received her J.D. in 1977 from the University of Missouri - Kansas City Law School.  Judge Firestone formerly was Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Justice Department from 1995 - 1998. She also served as a Judge on the Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Appeals Board from 1992-1995. Prior to that, Judge Firestone was the Associate Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 1989-1992. Before serving at the Environmental Protection Agency, Judge Firestone was an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.  Judge Firestone is also an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Steve Altman   Steve Altman is an attorney with over 20 years of senior-level experience...in complex civil litigation, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), management, and training. An accomplished negotiator and mediator, he has resolved multi-million dollar government-commercial disputes and diverse civil conflicts.  In 2003, he retired from 27 years of service at the US Department of Justice to open his own ADR practice.  Since 1998, Steve has been an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches negotiation, including components on mediation and arbitration.  As an advisor to the student ADR Society and coach of the school’s interscholastic negotiation team, Steve has helped students win regional, national, and international competitions.

Jim Brookshire has served as Executive Director of the Federal Circuit Bar Association since October 2003, after his retirement from the United States Department of Justice.  He began his Justice Department career in 1976 as a Trial Attorney in the Environment and natural Resources Division.   His various roles at Justice included Section Chief of the Indian Claims Section, Deputy Chief of the Natural Resources Section, and Chief Counsel for Complex Dispute Resolution.  In his management and Chief Counsel roles, he resolved numerous claims, including complex historic claims of Native American tribes and taking claims.  He has served as President of the Court of Federal Claims Bar Association and the Federal Circuit Bar Association.   He holds a certification for Policy Consensus Building, Dispute Resolution, Facilitation from the Virginia Mediation.