The Ombuds Blog: Law Firm of Shipman & Goodwin Appoints First Ombuds

February 14, 2017

Law Firm of Shipman & Goodwin Appoints First Ombuds

The large, regional law firm based in Connecticut has named Vaughan Finn as its first Ombuds. She also serves as the Pro Bono Coordinator. Until July 2016, she was a litigation partner handling employment, employee benefits and petroleum franchising cases. The law firm is also home to Charles Howard, author of the ABA book, The Organizational Ombudsman: Origins, Roles and Operations-A Legal Guide.

Vaughan has served as both a private and court-appointed mediator. She also serves as Counsel to the Federal Grievance Committee of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Finn earned her BA and JD at Harvard. (Shipman & Goodwin Bio; LinkedIn.)

Related posts: Job Posting: DLA Piper; Kaye Scholer Implements Ombuds Program; Study Concludes Large Law Firms Should Have Ombuds; Altman Weil Endorses Ombuds Programs for Large Law Firms; Ombuds Can Mitigate High Costs of Internal Conflict for Law Firms; Chadbourne & Parke Ombuds Mentors Columbia Law Students.

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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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