Mediator Charles A. Pillsbury

Many of you may know Charlie Pillsbury from his most recent affiliation with Quinnipiac Law School as a teacher of mediation and alternative dispute resolution, co-director of the Center on Dispute Resolution and co-convener of the Quinnipiac-Yale Dispute Resolution Speaker series. Charlie’s influence is much more than that and stretches across the world and across time. In the following article you will learn how he has been influential, not just at the Law School, but also as a leader of community mediation in New Haven, the US and around the world as a co-founder and now Board member of Mediators Beyond Borders International. Charlie is all about commitment to the people and issues he cares about. Beyond the mentioned professional accomplishments, he is a loving parent and grandparent. For those of us of a certain age, Charlie may have entered our lives long before we met him or knew who he was as the inspiration for his Yale College roommate, Garry Trudeau’s comic strip Doonesbury. Over the decades Charlie has quietly and steadfastly striven to make our world a better place. It has been an honor to learn from and accompany him on part of that journey. Thank you Charlie.

When asked what word comes to mind in thinking about Professor Charles Pillsbury, one colleague offered an answer that seemed to speak for many, in a resounding tribute: Peacemaker. Charlie’s own answer, reflecting on his career in dispute resolution, was just as fitting: “mediator.”

Peacemaking has long been recognized as central to who he is. In 2023, Quinnipiac honored him with the inaugural Center on Dispute Resolution Peacemaker Award, an award that will now bear his name — a fitting tribute to someone whose decades of work, from leading Community Mediation in New Haven for twenty years, to national and international leadership in ADR, to co-directing Quinnipiac’s Center on Dispute Resolution, have been defined by a profound commitment to helping people and communities navigate conflict with dignity and care.  Colleagues, students, and mentees described him as humble, steady, thoughtful, and deeply devoted to people: someone who not only believed in mediation as a practice, but embodied its values in the way he led, mentored, and fostered community.

Building Peace Through Community Mediation 

Professor Pillsbury’s dedication to dispute resolution was especially visible in his decades of community mediation work in New Haven. Before joining Quinnipiac’s Center on Dispute Resolution, he served for twenty years as Executive Director of Community Mediation, where he guided individuals, families, students, and communities to work their way through conflict. His work extended from court-connected mediation and anti-poverty initiatives to peer mediation programs that trained middle school students to help resolve disputes among their classmates.  As Professor and former Dean Jennifer Brown observed, Charlie “empowers communities to organize themselves” — a philosophy that seems to capture both his community work and his larger vision of dispute resolution.

Mentor, Matchmaker & Door-Opener

Charlie’s influence extended beyond the institutions he served; it also lived in the people he encouraged along the way.  Again and again, those who know him tell of someone with a rare gift for identifying potential, nurturing it, and helping others find their place in the field. Dean Carolyn Kaas called him a “trusted matchmaker,” someone intentional about helping passionate people in dispute resolution become the next generation of practitioners and leaders. Others echoed that view, describing him as a natural networker who never seemed to forget people, and who carried a quiet but steady faith in what they might become. 

That pattern appeared in countless stories. D.G. Mawn recalled that, after Charlie encouraged him at a 2011 lunch to become more involved, he went on to serve as president of the National Association for Community Mediation.  Prabha Sankaranarayan described Charlie as the kind of leader who touches more lives than he ever lets on, so humble in his work that “if we added them all up, it would be a sea of practitioners.” Others remembered his willingness to believe in people others might overlook.  Berta Holmes-Reed put it simply and powerfully: “He came back for me.”

Legacy at Quinnipiac and Beyond

As Professor Charles Pillsbury retires from his role as Co-Director of Quinnipiac’s Center on Dispute Resolution and Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, he leaves behind a legacy that is both deeply embedded and profoundly personal.  At the Center — and across many other programs and institutions he helped shape — Professor Brown and others noted that this work would not have flourished in the same way without his years of steady leadership, planning, and care.  She credited him with helping steward, sustain, and strengthen the Center’s longstanding collaboration with Yale, while many others also pointed to his role in keeping the John A. Speziale ADR Symposiumthriving for well over a decade. Charlie also was instrumental in helping Connecticut become the 13th State to adopt the Uniform Mediation Act on October 1, 2025.

Charlie has likewise remained a trusted presence and continued supporter in the wider field of alternative dispute resolution through national leadership, founding contributions, and his years with Mediators Beyond Borders International. To many, he became a recognizable and reassuring force in the profession — “Mr. ADR,” as one colleague put it.  And yet, even with that reach, those who know him best returned to the same truth: Charlie’s legacy rests not only in the programs and partnerships he strengthened, but in the generations of practitioners and peacemakers who will carry the work forward. 

From the Waymaker Himself 

Underlying Charlie’s decades of work in mediation and dispute resolution is a deeper moral and spiritual grounding that has quietly shaped the way he moves through the world. When asked to reflect on his career, his humility was unmistakable; even then, he spoke less about himself than about the people, values, and communities that gave the work meaning.  

He spoke of reconciliation not merely as a professional task, but as a calling — one informed by faith, humility, and a belief that peace requires intention, recalling Micah 6:8 and Paul’s Ministry Of Reconciliation (2nd Corinthians, 5:18-21) That grounding also lives in Sacred Stories, a series of reflections on dispute resolution in Scripture that he has shared through the Center’s website.  He spoke with clarity about the world as it is, observing that we have always lived in violent times and may often need the help of a third party. In that sense, his work has never been confined to resolvingdisputes, but has also about helping people move, however imperfectly, toward shalom – peace, wholeness, and right relationship. 

Charlie is remembered not only as a teacher, leader, and peacemaker, but as someone who believed deeply in people.  As Berta observed, he was “very conscious of the underdog,” someone who would fight for you and believe in what you could become. Longtime friend Brenda Cavanaugh thanked him “for giving yourself to others,” a line that feels especially fitting for a man whose life’s work has been built on service, faith, and the steady cultivation of relationships.  Devoted to his family as a husband, father, and grandfather, Charlie has also given himself generously to his students, colleagues, and the broader dispute resolution community. He leaves behind more than programs or titles: he leaves behind a way of moving through the world.  As two colleagues powerfully captured it when asked to offer thoughts on his retirement, “Job. Well. Done.” And as others wonder, half-jokingly, whether this retirement is truly final; one truth remains clear: his influence will continue to be felt wherever people choose dialogue over division, and peace over pride. 

Shalom.

"The March mediation training of the QUSL Center on Dispute Resolution (CDR) filled up quickly and a second session was added for May which also rapidly filled. Registration for the fall session is open now.  Those session dates are:

• Fall 2026: October 28-29 on Zoom and November 3-4 at the Law School  

You can also register to be notified for wait list spots in the event of last-minute opening and notification of upcoming sessions.  

For more information, please click HERE or go directly to the Registration Page. 

Each year one or two Quinnipiac Law students are hired to support the work of the Center on Dispute Resolution.

For 2026 Center is thrilled to welcome Kaisha Luciano and Victoria Xikis.

To learn more about about the visit the Student Fellows Webpage

Integrative Law is an emerging global movement that reimagines how lawyers practice, collaborate, and resolve conflict. Rather than centering on adversarial outcomes, this approach emphasizesproblem-solving, relational awareness, and long-term solutions that serve clients, professionals, and communities alike. At

Quinnipiac Law School, this work is taught and shaped by innovators and leaders in the field, including J. Kim Wright, a three-time ABA author, a pioneering voice in the Integrative Law movement and co-creator of the Conscious Contracts® model. The course is also taught by Kara McCarthy Perry, an integrative lawyer with over 20 years of transactional practice who integrates contemplative and embodied approaches into negotiation, contracting, and lawyer well-being. In recent years, Malin Johnsonhas contributed significantly to the course and currently co-teaches it with Wright. 

The Integrative Law Approach to Negotiation introduces these principles through experiential learning rather than traditional exam-based coursework. Students do not simply study integrative negotiation theory — they practice it in real time with classmates, professors, and collaborators. A distinctive feature of the program is its use of the Conscious Contracts® process. Through simulations and collaborative projects, students generate tangible work products while learning how agreements can reflect shared values and goals rather thanpositional bargaining.

The course is taught online, with faculty joining from different states — Malin from Montana, Kara from New Jersey, and Kim Wright from North Carolina — reflecting the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of theintegrative law community. For students who wish to deepen their experience, the program also offers an advanced Integrative Negotiation Clinic in which participants work with real clients to facilitate agreements.

The course serves as a prerequisite to this clinic, underscoring its role as a foundation for applied practice.

Additionally, at the end of each semester, students host a public celebration of their work and invite guests toengage with the ideas emerging from the course. Past guests have included Nishat Ruiter, corporate counsel for TED.com and founder of TEDLaw Both Kim and Kara serve on advisory boards for TEDLaw, reflecting the project’s broader connections to innovation and thought leadership in the legal field. This year’s class public celebration will take place on April 9 at 6 p.m., and an invited guest, pending confirmation, is former North Carolina Chief Justice Cheri Beasley.

The Center on Dispute Resolution’s broader Project for Integrative Law in Legal Education, officially created in 2022, reflects that same commitment to innovation in legal education. The project’s stated mission is to bring lessons from integrative law practice into legal education by connecting them with experiential learning anddispute resolution. Its activities have included scholarship, an interview series, and the Integrative Law Summer Institute, launched in 2023, which brought together speakers

and attendees from around the world to discuss topics including wellness, trauma-informed lawyering, restorative justice, and ADR.

Scholarship emerging from the project includes Teaching From the Integrative Paradigm: The NegotiationClinic at Quinnipiac University School of Law (2023) and the forthcoming Embodied Negotiation: Preparing Future Lawyers Through Integrative Practice (2026).

— By Kaisha Luciano, Fellow ’25-‘26

This spring, the QUSL Society for Dispute Resolution competed in the following competitions:  

• ABA Mediation Regionals (January) 

• ABA Client Counseling Regionals (February) 

SDR will also be sending teams to the following competitions this spring:  

• NYSBA Mediation Competition (March)  

Congratulations to all of our competitors! For more information on the SDR’s competitions, team members, and coaches, see the SDR webpage on our Center website.

SDR will be co-hosting a Spring Exhibition with The Sports and Entertainment Law Society at QUSL, Sat. April 11th. This exhibition will be a fun way for any QUSL student to gain experience in negotiating in a low stakes' environment. 

This opportunity is perfect for anyone who is interested in joining SDR for the 2026-27 academic year. Please stay tuned for updates as they come!  

We are currently looking for Judges! 

Please click here if you are interested in assisting as a judge for our event. Thank you!Item description

The March mediation training of the QUSL Center on Dispute Resolution (CDR) filled up quickly and a second session was added for May which also filled up quickly and registration for the fall session is open now. Those session dates are: 

• October 28-29 virtually then November 3-4 at the Law School  

Currently our Spring training is accepting waitlist applicants and our Fall training is booking fast!

You can also register to be notified for waitlist spots in the event of last-minute opening and notification of upcoming sessions.  

For more information, please click HERE or go directly to the Registration Page.

"Smart Resolutions" 

Exploring the Role of AI in Alternative Dispute Resolution

Cleveland State Law Review, Vol.73, Issue 2, 03/03/25. 

Presentation 02/25/26:

• Presenter, Dr. Nadia Ahmad, Assistant Professor at Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia

• Commenter, Prof. John Lande, the Isidor Loeb Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Law

• This Recording includes the full presentation, including slides shared during the session. 

These Dispute Resolution Workshops are co-hosted by:

The Center on Dispute Resolution, Quinnipiac University School of Law and The Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale.