Courtney Chicvak

Courtney Chicvak, Esq., M.S., J.D., IMI Certified Mediator, ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC), APFM Certified Senior Family Mediator, is a Lecturer at Columbia University and an attorney, mediator, educator, and program director specializing in court-connected and community-based dispute resolution.

She serves as Program Director of Alternative Dispute Resolution at the Long Island Dispute Resolution Centers (LIDRC), a program of EAC Network and New York State’s designated Community Dispute Resolution Centers for Nassau and Suffolk Counties. In this role, she is responsible for the design, administration, and oversight of mediation and arbitration programs operating in partnership with the New York State Unified Court System, including family court custody and visitation mediation, small claims mediation, community mediation, special education disputes, public accommodations matters, early intervention programs, ACCES-VR matters, and lemon law arbitration.

Courtney oversees mediator recruitment, training, supervision, and compliance with New York State Part 146 requirements; manages court partnerships and referral processes; and supports grant-funded program development and technology integration, including initiatives to expand digital access to justice. She works alongside a roster of mediators, arbitrators, and conflict coaches serving courts and communities across Long Island.

As a practitioner, Courtney has mediated and facilitated a variety of disputes across family, civil, community, employment, organizational, healthcare, government, and private contexts, with particular experience in court-referred custody and visitation and co-parenting mediation, including matters arising in New York City Family Court and at the New York Peace Institute. Her background also includes training as a Guardian ad Litem, Long-Term Care Ombudsman, Parenting Coordinator (AFCC training), and serving as a Volunteer Attorney in the New York City Family Court Volunteer Attorney Program.

At Columbia University, Courtney teaches Conflict Analysis Models and Frameworks within the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution program and contributes to curriculum development through the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution and the Conflict Intelligence Lab. Her teaching and coaching experience also includes appointments and engagements with Stanford Law School, Yale School of Management, UC Law San Francisco, Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo), Abilene Christian University, Grand Canyon University, the Indian Institute of Management–Rohtak, and the Women in Negotiation (WIN) Summit.

Courtney’s mediation and systems work is informed by prior professional experience in labor and employment law and organizational conflict. She previously served as an Escalations Investigator on Amazon’s Executive Escalations team, investigating complex employee relations matters raised to senior executive leadership across global operations. Earlier in her career, she worked in healthcare labor relations at New York City Health + Hospitals and Northwell Health, and served as a labor relations intern with the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 30, supporting attorneys in collective bargaining and disciplinary processes.

Her work has been published in and featured by Family Court Review, Lawline, Newsweek, Parents Magazine, the ABA TIPS Law Journal, the New York State Dispute Resolution Lawyer Journal, and bar association journals. She is a frequent presenter and panelist at national and international conferences and academic forums, including the American Bar Association, Association of American Law Schools, New York State Dispute Resolution Association, ACR-GNY, and university-based summits, with professional engagements spanning the United States, Europe, and Asia, including Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, Japan, India, and Kazakhstan.

Courtney serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM), co-chairs dispute resolution committees with the New York State Bar Association and the Suffolk County Bar Association, and mentors law students through the St. John’s University School of Law Alumnae Leadership Council and Public Interest Law Center. She was appointed to the U.S. Department of State Fulbright Specialist Roster and was named a 2024 Long Island Business News Leader in Law (Alternative Dispute Resolution).

She is an International Mediation Institute (IMI) Certified Mediator, an International Coaching Federation Associate Certified Coach (ACC), a New York State Unified Court System Part 146 Basic Mediation Trainer, an Academy of Professional Family Mediators (APFM) Certified Senior Family Mediator, and a Certified Coercive Control Professional. She is admitted to practice law in New York.

Courtney holds a B.S. from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, an M.S. in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution from Columbia University, and a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. She also completed an Executive Diploma Programme in Cultural Diplomacy, International Relations, and Global Governance through the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in collaboration with the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy.

Her professional focus is on court-connected mediation, practitioner training, and the design of conflict resolution systems within public justice settings. Her current work centers on integrating technology, relational practice, and community-based approaches into dispute system design, particularly at the intersection of artificial intelligence, culture, the arts, and sustainable peace, to expand access to justice and support individuals, families, and communities in resolving conflict with dignity.