A study of policy and alternative dispute resolution as related to the New York State Department of Public Service Office of Hearings and Dispute Resolution

This paper documents my participation in a practicum for the New York State Department of Public Service (NYSDPS) in the Office of Hearings and Alternative Dispute Resolution (OHADR) headed by Chief Administrative Law Judge Judith Lee, and under the supervision of Administrative Law Judge Jaclyn Brilling.; The practicum, beginning on June 11, 2002 and concluding on December 11, 2002, totaled two hundred and seventy five unpaid hours. The Department of Public Service offered exposure to innumerable experiences, but the emphasis for my practicum was concentrated in three main areas. The first, involved research of policy procedures and assisting Judge Brilling in drafting a Rule Making for Mediator Confidentiality. The Public Service Commission passed this rule making during my practicum, and it became an addition to Section 16 of New York Codes of Rules and Regulations (NYCRR). The second segment involved a complicated application process covered under Article X of Public Service Law. An application was submitted to the. Public Service Commission to construct a 505 MW combined cycle, gas fired cogeneration facility in the city of Rensselaer, New York, and my assignment was to assist Judge Brilling in all phases of the Article X proceedings. The third area concentrated on the preparation of an overview and description of the alternative dispute resolution services available from the Office of Hearings and Alternative Dispute Resolution (OHADR). After the overview was reviewed and accepted by the Administrative Law Judges in OHADR, I extracted information to create an intranet website for use as an educational tool informing other DPS departments about the services available from OHADR.