Founder

• Robert A. Harris. Mr. Harris, the founder of Positively Neutral, has practiced law with the Connecticut law firm Zeldes, Needle and Cooper since 1982. His practice encompasses the litigation, arbitration and mediation of commercial disputes, and serving as an arbitrator and mediator. Mr. Harris currently serves as the Chairman of the Connecticut Bar Association Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution, and frequently writes and speaks about alternative dispute resolution issues, including authoring a monthly column on arbitration and mediation for the Connecticut Law Tribune.

Advisory Board

• Beverly J. Hodgson, Esq. Recently retired from the bench, Judge Hodgson served as a Connecticut Superior Court Judge for 15 years, where she was the first judicial Appointee to the Complex Litigation Docket, managing and trying multi-party, complex civil cases. Judge Hodgson currently serves as a mediator and arbitrator, and authors a column for the Connecticut Law Tribune on ADR issues. Judge Hodgson is the co-author of Alternate Dispute Resolution in Connecticut Courts, published by Atlantic Law Book Company. She is a recipient of Community Mediation's Excellence in Mediation Award.



• W. Garrison Jackson. Mr. Jackson, director of Positively Neutral Marketing, LLC, is President and CEO of Circulation Experti, an award winning advertising, marketing and public relations firm in Westchester County, New York, whose clients include a number of Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Jackson has received professional recognition for his achievements, including the “40 Under Forty” Achievement Award granted by The Network Journal.



• Harry Mazadoorian. Mr. Mazadoorian is Distinguished Professor in Dispute Resolution from Practice at Quinnipiac Law School. Previously, Mr. Mazadoorian served in a number of capacities with Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and CIGNA Corporation, including Chief Insurance Counsel, Vice President, Government Relations and Co-ordinator of ADR activities. As Legal Division coordinator of CIGNA's ADR activities, he was actively involved in the early development and implementation of ADR initiatives, extensively reviewed public and private ADR programs, and interacted with many ADR providers. Mr. Mazadoorian served as the first chair of the Mediation Committee of the ABA's Section of Dispute Resolution, chair of its Corporate ADR Committee, and as a member of the Section's policy making Council. He also serves as chair of the planning committee for the Connecticut Bar Foundation Annual John A. Speziale ADR Symposium and is a member of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution / Georgetown Law School Commission on Ethics and Standards for Dispute Resolution Practice. Mr.Mazadoorian is the recipient of Community Mediation's Excellence in Mediation award as well as the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution ADR Pioneer award. He is a principal author and editor of "Mediation Practice Book: Critical Tools, Techniques and Forms."



• Dr. Shannon Pratt Dr. Shannon Pratt, CFA, FASA, MCBA. Dr. Pratt is perhaps the leading authority on business valuation in the United States. He has either authored or co-authored ten books on the subject, several of which routinely are used by business valuation professionals, and by the four professional organizations that provide accreditation to business appraisers. Among his many achievements, Dr. Pratt is the past chairman and lifetime member emeritus of the ESOP Association's Advisory Committee on Valuations, a life member of the American Society of Appraisers' (ASA) Business Valuation Committee, and a member of the ASA College of Fellows. He is a life member of the American Society of Appraisers, a life member and Master Certified Business Appraiser (CBA) of the Institute of Business Appraisers, and a past trustee at-large for The Appraisal Foundation. Dr. Pratt was the founder of Willamette Management Associates, one of the oldest and largest independent valuation consulting firms in the United States. He is also the founder and managing owner of Business Valuation Resources, LLC, which since 1995, has offered online financial databases, an online business valuation library, two newsletters, books, telephone conferences and other imperative resources to the business valuation profession.