Deirdre McCarthy Gallagher, Esq., is highly regarded for her ability to resolve both two-party and multiparty disputes in a range of areas, including employment to organizational matters. With over 20 years of experience as a mediator, facilitator, and ADR consultant, Ms. McCarthy Gallagher is known for her persistence and patience in bringing parties together in the most intractable of cases.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Accomplished at mediating disputes in a variety of areas, including employment, business, nonprofit, governmental/public policy, education, environmental and energy; government agencies include the U.S Department of Energy, U.S. Department of the Interior, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC)
• Experienced at facilitating dialogue in the governmental/public policy realm, from serving as co-facilitator of a federal advisory committee and liaison to a tribal energy subcommittee to navigating the decision-making processes around change management, strategic planning and resource allocation and optimization
• Effective at advising a range of organizations as an ADR consultant, including companies, large and small nonprofits, universities and governmental agencies

Representative Matters

• Multiparty settlement process to resolve dispute regarding the relationship between regional transmission organization and independent market monitor
• Multi-party settlement process to relicense the Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s Upper American River Hydroelectric Project, involving consultation with state and federal resource agencies, local governments, nongovernmental organizations and members of the public
• Disputes between pipeline companies and landowners
• Dispute between scientific organizations regarding issues of information, communication and process; engagement involved mediation, facilitation and process design
• Dispute involving employee tension and conflict within small business preparing for major expansion
• Dispute involving group dynamics among high-level governmental team responsible for executing a major initiative
• Disputes involving prohibited personnel practices in the federal government regarding issues of employment discrimination, retaliation, improper hiring and failure to adhere to laws, rules or regulations that relate to merit system principles
• Disputes involving the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) regarding issues of employment discrimination on the basis of military service; helped to design the OSC’s USERRA mediation program, which had a 100% success rate during year one
• Dispute involving multiple staff members in a federal agency division alleging equal employment opportunity discrimination by management
• Facilitations of strategic planning processes and climate assessments

Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS.

Memberships and Affiliations

• Chair, Committee on Committees, American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, 2019–present
• Mediator, Montgomery County (Md.) Circuit Court, 2016–present
• Member, Mid-Atlantic Chapter, American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, 2015–present
• Member, Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, Maryland State Bar Association, 2015–present
• Former Co-Chair, Government Committee, American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, 2015–2018
• Former Member, Associates Committee Task Force, American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, 2017–2018
• Former Chair and Vice Chair, Interagency Alternative Dispute Resolution Working Group, IADRWG, 2009–2011
• Former Chair, Civil Enforcement and Regulatory Section, IADRWG, 2008–2009
• Member, State Bar of Maryland, 2005–present

Selected Publications

• Co-Author, Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Regulatory Process (to be published by Michigan State University Press in 2020).
• Co-Author, “Leadership, Inside and Out,” Maine Policy Review (Special Issue: Leadership), Spring 2018.
• Co-Author, “Making Government Work,” ACResolution Magazine, Spring 2008.
• Co-Author, “Report for the President on the Use and Results of Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government: Giving American People Better Results and More Value,” 2007 (under the auspices of the Interagency ADR Working Group).
• Co-Author, “Mediating Bioethical Disputes,” Dispute Resolution Magazine, Spring 2003.

• Associate Director, JAMS Institute, 2020–present
• President and Founder, Voices of Value LLC, 2015–2020
• Senior Mediator, U.S. Office of Special Counsel, 2012–2015
• Adjunct Professor of Law for Negotiation and Mediation, Georgetown University Law Center, 2016–present
• Adjunct Professor of Law for Negotiation and Mediation, American University Washington College of Law, 2016–2017
• Attorney Advisory and Group Manager, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Dispute Resolution Service, 2006–2012
• Law Clerk, Associate Judge Neal E. Kravitz, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, 2004–2005
• Associate, ADR Associates LLC and Center for Dispute Settlement, 1999–2001
• Associate, Centre for Strategic Initiatives of Women, 1997–1999
• J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 2004
• M.S., Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, 1997
• A.B., cum laude, Harvard University, 1991