Mediation in a Changing Legal Landscape: Make it Plan A

Expires: September 1, 2022

 Program Moderator: Yana Karnaukhov, Olive Branch ADR, Chicago

Ethics of Mediation and Arbitration
(1.0  Professional Responsibility)
Licensed attorneys in Illinois who serve as mediators or arbitrators are bound by the Supreme Court Rules of Professional Conduct.  Learn how a panel of experienced mediators and arbitrators apply the rules to various problem scenarios.
Panel Moderator: Peter L. Rotskoff, Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, Springfield
Panelists: H. Case Ellis, Law Office of H. Case Ellis, Cary
Hon. Ron Spears (Ret.), Spears Dispute Resolution LLC, Taylorville

Mediating Complex Disputes
(0.75 Professional Responsibility)
Sharpen your mediation skills by learning to accurately assess the personalities and power inequities of the parties and their counsel, understand the risks and opportunities behind the different mediation styles, and refine your techniques for dealing with contingencies and managing complex technical issues across multiple parties.  By mastering the art of handling complex disputes, you will be able to assist parties in reaching resolutions even in the most difficult cases.
Yana Karnaukhov, Olive Branch ADR, Chicago

The Musts of Mediating Online: You Need to Know More Than How to Zoom!
(0.5 Professional Responsibility)
With the swift pivot to conducting mediation via online conferencing, the restrictions of COVID and quarantine need not delay your pending mediations.  Learn suggested language and notifications to help your mediation participants be properly prepared for a virtual process and ensure that the confidentiality and privacy of the process is protected.  The importance of being properly prepared for an online proceeding, in keeping with the duty of competence, will also be reviewed.
Susan E. Guthrie, Learn to Mediate Online, Chicago

Starting from Scratch: How to Get Started and Grow Your Mediation Business
(1.0 Professional Responsibility)
Considering starting a private mediation practice? Learn how to create and implement an effective business plan, including consderations such as whether to have virtual practice vs. a physical location; marketing choices; and branding. We will also discuss resources available to help you establish your private practice so that you can hit the ground running.
Matthew Carroll, Keystone Mediation, Dyer, IN
Sandra Crawford, Law Crawford, P.C., Chicago

Maximizing Fairness: Understanding the Effects of Psychology and Implicit Bias in Mediations and Arbitrations
(1.0  Diversity & Inclusion Professional Responsibility) 
Presented in both “TED-Talk” and panel formats, learn from multiple perspectives (advocate, psychologist, mediator and arbitrator) how litigant anxiety and our own implicit (subconscious) biases can affect mediation and arbitration outcomes. Litigants often engage the legal system with anxiety and stress, which influences their participation in the process and can affect case outcomes. Mediators and arbitrators bear the responsibility of facilitating and adjudicating the rights and obligations of litigants and must understand their own implicit biases in order to prevent these internal influences from negatively impacting objectivity and neutrality. Learn tips and strategies for recognizing and overcoming your implicit biases.
Arbitrator Deborah J. Baker, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, Chicago
Christine Evans, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Chicago
Dr. David Finn, Psy.D, Associates in Human Development Counseling, LLC, Palatine

“Mediation-Friendly” Family Law Attorneys and other Professionals
(1.0  Professional Responsibility)
Learn how mediators can help separating and divorcing clients by enrolling mediation-friendly (limited scope representation) attorneys, mental health professionals and financial professionals to support their mediation process.  Includes important “dos and don’ts” for attorney mediators.
Sandra Crawford, Law Crawford, P.C., Chicago

The ABCs of Collaborative Divorce
(1.0  Professional Responsibility)
Get an overview of yet another form of ADR, collaborative divorce and the process basics and paradigm shift necessary for this type of practice.  Also learn the basic tenants of collaborative law, what this kind of diversity adds to your practice, and how it affects the parties and their families in the best way possible.
Anna Markley Bush, Bush and Heise, Barrington

Adjourn