Storytelling for Advocacy

Robert A. Creo | National Academy of Arbitrators

Robert A. Creo has over 40 years of practical experience in the dispute resolution field as an attorney, author, arbitrator, mediator, special master, and educator. For over two decades he served as an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne University School of Law, (1991) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (2001 – 2012) teaching courses on dispute resolution and decision making. He has served as a mediator and arbitrator in thousands of civil cases (over 5,000 days) since 1979, including for Major League Baseball, National Football League and the United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics, and the Court for Arbitration of Sports (CAS-TAS) headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

He has presented extensively on ADR, decision making, ethics, negotiating, and effective lawyering. He has authored books, including the treatise “Alternative Dispute Resolution: Law, Procedure and Commentary for the Pennsylvania Practitioner” (George T. Bisel Co. 2006), the Federal Arbitration Advocate’s Handbook, 2d. Ed. (LPR, 1993) over 50 columns of The Effective Lawyer in PA Lawyer, and over 90 columns of The Master Mediator published by CPR Alternative to the High Cost of Litigation. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief, Elkouri and Elkouri, How Arbitration Works (Bloomberg).

As the co-founder of Mediators Beyond Borders International he has been involved in international educational and humanitarian projects. He is the principal of Steel City Storytellers, LLC, which focuses on the spoken word as a means of creating connection, trust, and persuasion. https://steelcitystorytellers.com/ and co-produces television pilots of storytellers.

Mr. Creo graduated from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis (1977), serving as the law review senior editor and Brandeis University, Magna cum Laude (1974). His website is www.robertcreo.com and email: [email protected].

I. Crafting your story from the factual context | 1:00pm – 1:15pm

II. Every scene, narrative, or incident has multiple perspectives | 1:15pm – 1:30pm

III. Basic arc of the story | 1:30pm – 1:45pm

IV. How emotions, perspectives and values matter | 1:45pm – 2:00pm

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

V. Engaging the listener | 2:10pm – 2:30pm

VI. Oral delivery tips for negotiations and litigation | 2:30pm – 2:50pm

VII. Presenting the story in letters and briefs | 2:50pm – 3:10pm