William A. Dreier Elected As Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators

July 19, 2011

Norris McLaughlin, P.A.
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William A. Dreier Elected As Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators

Bridgewater, NJ (July 19, 2011) - William A. Dreier, a Member of the Bridgewater-based law firm of Norris McLaughlin, P.A., has been elected as a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators (CCA), one of the country's most exclusive commercial arbitration groups. There are only six members in New Jersey. He will be inducted at the 2011 CCA Annual Meeting, which will be held October 20-23, 2011, at The Ritz-Carlton, Denver in Denver, Colorado.

Established in 2001, the College of Commercial Arbitrators is a national organization of commercial arbitrators providing a meaningful contribution to the profession, the public and to the businesses and lawyers who depend on commercial arbitration as a primary means of dispute resolution. CCA promotes the highest standards of conduct, professionalism and ethical practice, develops “best practices,” and provides peer training and professional development. The purpose of the CCA is to provide interaction and communication in the profession and offers an easy means to identify those individuals whose professional training and experience qualify them to undertake the most complex and difficult arbitration assignments.

A resident of Warren, Judge Dreier heads the Norris McLaughlin, P.A. worldwide products liability practice, in addition to supervising mediation & arbitration and commercial litigation. He frequently lectures, mediates and arbitrates substantial Chancery and other disputes. In 2010, he was designated as ADR Practitioner of the Year by the Dispute Resolution Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. In 2009, he was selected as namesake and first recipient of the William A. Dreier Award, an annual award given to attorneys and jurists for excellence in and advancement of product liability and toxic tort law in New Jersey, by the Products Liability and Toxic Tort Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. In 2008, Judge Dreier was awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor, the highest award for an attorney, by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation (“NJSBF”) for his professional excellence, as demonstrated by his accomplishments in the law and service to the profession and community throughout his career.

As an arbitrator and mediator, Judge Dreier has been chosen as a member of the New Jersey Panel of Distinguished Neutrals, International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, and the American Arbitration Association’s National Panel of Commercial Arbitrators, its class action and complex case panels and its International Centre for Dispute Resolution. He is also a member of the Justice Marie L. Garibaldi Inn of Court for ADR, the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators and a founding member of The Resolution Group (TRG). He regularly lectures on Alternative Dispute Resolution.

In addition, Judge Dreier is an Emeritus member of the Columbia Law School Board of Visitors, the editorial board of the New Jersey Law Journal, and the American Law Institute for which he is an advisor or consultative group member for the various areas of the Restatement (Third) of Torts, and is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education. He is an authority on commercial litigation, having authored the state’s principal text on Chancery Practice as well as earlier texts on Secured Financing.

Judge Dreier has published numerous articles on ADR, products liability and other subjects, in addition to 380 published judicial opinions. His ADR articles include: "Avoiding the Impasse, Closing the Deal," in two editions of Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation, "Finding the Most Efficient Forum for Resolving Disputes in Today's Corporate World," The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel; "Mediate, Arbitrate - Don't Litigate," The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel; "Resolve Your Disputes Out of Court," The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel; and "The Growing Popularity of ADR," The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel.

Judge Dreier frequently lectures throughout New Jersey and nationally on the subject of products liability, on which his book, New Jersey Products Liability and Toxic Tort Law (Gann Law Books), is based. He has been the Planning Chair and Faculty Member of the annual Advanced National Products Liability Course for the ALI-ABA, a lecturer for ICLE’s annual products liability update and Chancery Practice courses, and has been a lecturer in symposia at five national law schools.

Judge Dreier received his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1961 and his B.S. from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958. Before joining Norris McLaughlin, he was a trial judge in the New Jersey Superior Court from 1973 to 1983, served in the Appellate Division from 1983 to 1994, and was a Presiding Judge from 1994 to 1998.

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