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    Alternative Dispute Resolution in

    Labor & Employment

    Arbitration Mediation

    Facilitation Factfinding

    Customized Dispute Resolution

    Offered By A Leading Conflict Resolution Professional:

    Arthur Pearlstein

  • Arthur Pearlstein: Experience

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    Arthur Pearlstein has an extensive background in labor and employment relations as an attorney, conflict resolution specialist, mediator, arbitrator, and law professor. With 25 years of experience as a neutral, Arthur has trained hundreds of labor arbitrators and advocates, mediated complex labor and employment disputes in a wide range of industries and institutions, and helped employers and unions develop effective and productive systems for the resolution of conflict in the workplace.

    For over 10 years, Arthur headed the Office of Labor Arbitration at the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service, where he was responsible for setting standards and policies, promoting and enforcing professional responsibility, and developing advanced training programs to raise the bar in the practice of labor arbitration and mediation. Arthur is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators.

    Arthur also served FMCS as a senior mediator, working with parties to reach agreement in complex and contentious collective bargaining negotiations over everything from wages and benefits to management rights, employee discipline, jurisdictional disputes, work hours and assignments, subcontracting, and seniority, all in the context of both first contracts and renewal agreements. His experience with arbitration and mediation extends over a broad range of private and public sector fields, from health care to manufacturing, from transportation to education, and from police and fire to national defense, among many others.

    In addition to traditional labor matters, Arthur has wide-ranging experience as a neutral and as an advocate in employment disputes, including discrimination, sexual harassment, ADA, and executive contracts.

    In his four years as General Counsel of FMCS, Arthur served as the chief legal and ethics officer of the agency, responsible for advising on laws and ethics of dispute resolution and relevant issues in labor and employment law. He has also served as Director of the Office of Shared Neutrals, a program for mediation of EEO and other employment disputes in the federal sector.

    Arthur spent seven years as Professor of Law and inaugural director of the Werner Institute for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at Creighton University in Omaha. He was responsible for developing curriculum, hiring faculty, teaching courses, and running workshops. During that time, he also did neutral work in labor arbitration and workplace mediation. He has published multiple articles and been a contributing author to textbooks and handbooks on dispute resolution in the workplace (see section on Publications/Presentations).

    Prior to his work as a neutral, Arthur had an active law practice where at different points in his career he represented both sides in labor and employment litigation, dealing with complex contracts, major statutory disputes such as under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, multiemployer pension plans, and work stoppages.

    In addition to his current work as an arbitrator and dispute resolution professional, Arthur serves as President of the Virginia Chapter of LERA (The Labor and Employment Relations Association). In 2021, Arthur was elected as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

    Education


    Arthur received his J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School, holds a master’s in dispute resolution from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University in California, and a B.A. from Haverford College in Pennsylvania.

  • Core Values

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    Honesty, integrity, impartiality and competence are at the foundation of Arthur Pearlstein's work as a neutral in labor and employment. Not only are these elements set forth in the Code of Professional Responsibility, they are key to establishing the trust and confidence of the parties to a dispute.

    Arthur beleives that everyone is worthy of respect and that neutral practice requires listening carefully, attentively, and with an open mind to the voice of each party. Whether an advocate or a witness is an experienced pro or is participating in a process for the first time, they deserve the same fair and meaningful opportunity to present their perspectives and their evidence. When conducting an arbitration, mediation, or other dispute resolution process, Arthur takes the time to explain every step clearly and thoughtfully, with appreciation for the dignity and humanity of each participant. Because justice delayed is justice denied, Arthur places a premium on timeliness, while respecting the busy schedules of the parties and their representatives.


  • Services

    Arthur Pearlstein is available across the U.S. and internationally

    for a wide range of dispute resolution services, including:

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    Arbitration

    Arbitrates labor-management grievances and interest cases as well as employment disputes

    Mediation

    Mediates the full range of labor and employment disputes, including grievances and cases in court litigation

    Med-Arb and Arb-Med

    Uses hybrid processes when parties choose to produce fair and efficient results

    Factfinding and Neutral Evaluation

    Conducts neutral factfinding and early case evaluation to help improve the chances for successful settlement or narrow the issues for arbitration

    Facilitation

    Brings together disputing parties to engage in structured, facilitated discussions to help identify underlying interests, resolve disputes, and improve working relationships

    Training

    Develops and delivers training, from beginning to advanced levels, for advocates and neutrals in arbitration, mediation, and other dispute resolution processes, as well in labor and employment law

    Customized Dispute Resolution

    Helps parties design and develop dispute resolution systems and build more productive workplace relationships, and increase efficiency

  • Representative Publications and Presentations

    By Arthur Pearlstein

    Publications

    • Member, Board of Editors, Interest Arbitration, 3rd Edition (LRIS Publications, 2022)

    Dispute Resolution: Readings and Case Studies (author, arbitration chapter), 3rd Edition (Edmond, 2010)

    • Contributing author, Online Dispute Resolution: Theory and Practice, "ODR in North America," (Eleven, 2012)

    • Contributing Author, Legal Guide to Human Resources (West, multiple editions 1996-2001 and 2012)

    • “Artificial Intelligence in the Arbitration Process: Inevitable Growth and Ethical Challenges,” Alternatives Magazine (published by CPR, the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, May 2024)

    • “Arbitration as a Service with Special Features: A Market-Based ADR Perspective,” Alternatives (published by CPR, December 2020)

    • “Twists and Turns in Arbitrator Selection: The Labor-Management Context,” Alternatives (published by CPR, January 2021)

    • “Video Arbitration: A Guide for Labor and Management Advocates,” (FMCS publication 2020)

    • “Pursuit of Happiness and Resolution of Conflict: An Agenda for the Future of ADR,” Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal, Spring 2012

    • “ADRx for the Healthcare Consumer: Learning from Painful Personal Experience,” Association for Conflict Resolution Magazine (ACResolution), Fall 2008

    • “Meet the New Lawyer,” Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution Vol. 10 (2008) (book review essay on conflict resolution and lawyers)

    • “Foreword: Pretrial Litigation, Dispute Resolution, and the Rarity of Trial,” Creighton Law Review (2007)

    • Co-author, “DYADS: Encouraging Dynamic Adaptive Dispute Systems in the Organized Workplace,” Harvard Negotiation Law Review, Vol. 10 (2005)

    Recent Presentations

    Artificial Intelligence in Arbitration: A Cautious Approach, (Panelist), National Academy of Arbitrators, May 2025

    Becoming a Labor Arbitrator (co-trainer in principles and practice of arbitration for new arbitrators), FMCS Institute, January 2025

    Just Cause for Discipline and Discharge, (co-presenter), Montana Labor-Management Conference, October 2024

    Mediation and Impasse, Presentation to the Interagency Dispute Resolution Working Group, Conflict Resolution Professionals Day of Learning, October 2024

    Resolving Workplace Conflict: Promoting Awareness, Explaining Options, Presentation to US Postal Service Office of Inspector General, October 2024

    Deferral To Arbitration - Who Gets the "Last Word"?, (Panelist), Arbitration and Advocate Symposium, Columbus, OH (co-sponsored by National Academy of Arbitrators, LERA, and FMCS), September 2024

    AI in Arbitration: Emerging Ethical Challenges, (Presenter), Arbitration and Advocate Symposium, Columbus, OH, September 2024

    Proactive Approaches to Addressing Workplace Conflict, Presentation to U.S. Department of Commerce, July 2024

    Organizational Dispute Systems Design in a Complex World, (Lead trainer), training delivered to advanced FMCS mediators enrolled in the Conflict Management Professionals certificate program, July 2024

    Drug Testing in the Workplace: Science and Sense in Arbitration, National Labor-Management Conference (Panelist at the "Triad" Conference), June 2024

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  • Contact Us

    PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE to contact us with your questions. Arthur Pearlstein is available through multiple rosters and to serve on permanent and ad hoc neutral panels.

    By email: pearlstein@adratwork.com

    By phone: (703) 539-2920

    You can also fill out an inquiry form below.

  • Inquiry Form

    Please fill out the following form and we will respond as soon as possible.