Mediation

I am a trained, certified and practicing mediator. Click to see my current Mediation 1-Pager. For mediation (and restorative justice) cases, I am acutely aware of the need to respect the parties’ need for self-determination. In that capacity, I routinely remind the parties that as a mediator or facilitator, I do not serve as a coach, judge, arbitrator or even a fact-finder, unless all of the parties expressly require that role.

My basic mediation training includes 40 hours under the instruction of J. Anderson Little, author of the American Bar Association’s best-selling Making Money Talk: How to Mediate Insured Claims and Other Monetary Disputes, and another 40 hours of training under the District of Columbia’s Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division.

I am certified to mediate court-referred cases in Virginia. In the District of Columbia, where no certification requirement exists, I have satisfied the District of Columbia Multi-Door program’s requirements. To maintain mediator eligibility for court-referred cases I participate in regular continuing education training including ethics in both Virginia and the District of Columbia.

In Virginia I have mediated court-referred small claims cases and community disputes under the aegis of the Northern Virginia Mediation Service (NVMS), a non-profit organization offering a wide range of dispute resolution services to the Northern Virginia community. In the District of Columbia I have mediated over 300 diverse, court-referred cases under the Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division program and have served as a designated peer reviewer and mentor for the program’s Small Claims mediators. In late 2019 I commenced truancy mediation under the program’s Family Mediation unit.

Because of COVID-19, the the District of Columbia Superior Court has for now abandoned in-person mediation in favor of  remote mediation conducted on the Zoom platform. Accordingly, I now practice remote mediation, drawing on extensive Zoom training offered by the Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Program.

Affiliated with the DC-based Center for Dispute Settlement, for over 2 years I  mediated misdemeanors referred by the US Attorney’s Office as well as citizen-Metropolitan Police Department complaints.

As shown on my Restorative Justice page, I am active on myriad mediation-type restorative justice fronts for which I have taken substantial specialized training and handled many cases, often involving sensitive gender and ethnic diversity issues, mostly in Fairfax County but in 2020 now including Arlington County.

As shown on my About Me page, I am an active member of several local, state and national dispute resolution-oriented professional organizations.

  • DEALWORK EVENTS


    2021

    Guest speaker for “Introduction to Restorative Justice” presentation for George Washington University law School ADR class, an annual event since 2012.
    March 2021

    Participate in London-based Forgiveness Project skill-based course “Working with Stories of Lived Experience” focused on using storytelling as  a transformative tool for change. Comprising four 3.5 hour online sessions (and and micro-experiments between sessions) for a class capped at 22 members during February and March 2021, the online course, accredited through the National Council for Psychotherapists, is directed at practitioners in fields such as Criminal Justice, Conflict Resolution, Restorative Justice, and Restorative Peace Building, which employ storytelling to address issues like forgiveness, trauma, shame and resilience.
    February 2021

    2020

    As guest speaker offered for the third time  “Introduction to Restorative Justice” presentation for George Mason University graduate class “Conflict Analysis and Resolution for Prevention, Reconstruction, and Stabilization Contexts”.
    October 2020

    Served as joint facilitator in demonstration case handled by Arlington County, Virginia’s progressive “RJ Arlington” restorative justice program.
    September 2020

    Delivered 90-minute Zoom webinar for Kentucky Bar Association, “Introduction to Restorative Justice,” for 80-participant group of lawyers and mediators; materials include a recently revised 14-page “Restorative Justice Primer,” 2-page outline, and Power Point slides, all of which are available upon request.
    September 2020

    Delivered most updated version of “Introduction to Restorative Justice” presentation for George Washington University law students, a presentation delivered every Spring since 2012.
    April 2020

    Began remote mediation of small  claims cases in Washington, DC.
    March 2020

    2019

    Facilitated myriad small claims and truancy cases for District of Columbia Superior Court Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division.

    Delivered practice-oriented presentation at Virginia Mediation Network Fall conference, “Managing Forgiveness Issues in Mediation: Respecting Self-Determination.”
    September 2019