Author Archives: Baltimore Mediation
Press and Publications
Below is a sample list of the many speeches and presentations given through the last 25 years.
Public Appearances
Book Signing, Gasparillo Book Club, Tampa, Florida
Keynote Speaker, Multicare Health System, Annual Leadership Breakfast, Tacoma, Washington
Keynote Speaker, Multicare Health System, Presidential Awards, Spokane, Washington
Speaker, Project for Integrating Spirituality, Law, and Politics, National Conference, Washington, D.C.
Speaker, International City Manager’s Association, National Conference, Baltimore, Maryland
Keynote Speaker, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Women on the Move Event
Keynote Speaker, American Bar Association Annual Meeting, Young Lawyer’s Division
Keynote Speaker,
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Uncategorized
We face a crisis of well-being in the legal system which causes great suffering in society and throughout the legal profession. Thatmay be why many of us have chosen to shift our legal work to dispute resolution. But even for dispute resolvers, we still face seemingly insurmountable adversarial obstacles, all of which takes a toll on well-being. If this resonates for you, then you may be very interested in a response that fosters a paradigm shift from what I call
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Blog
Whether you’re a business owner or organization leader, there are five main components to relational leadership. These components are inclusion, empowerment, purposefulness, ethical behaviors, and process orientation. When you bring in keynote speakers to give a talk to your group, they encourage these components and more to bring your employees together so that they can reach a common goal.
What Are The Benefits Of Keynote Speakers?
In any setting where many people work to achieve one common goal, they need something to
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Blog, Being Relational
I am just returning from a conference with the International Academy of Mediators in Scotland. I always feel like I’m with my tribe when I am among IAM practitioners. You know what I mean, that feeling you have too when you resonate with a group of people, a group that is easy to be with because you experience resonance, you vibe with each other, you like each other, you have things in common. I bet at least one personal or
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Blog, Being Relational
Inspired by the late Martin Luther King, Jr, whose life we remembered last month, 50 years after he was assassinated, I have been
thinking deeply about Relational Practices and how Dr. King’s message and life was a model of being relational. Dr. King stirred us with his words, “Time is cluttered with the wreckage of communities, which have surrendered to hatred and violence. For the salvation of our nation and the salvation of mankind, we must follow another way. This does
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Blog, Being Relational
If at first you don’t succeed… That’s right, “…try, try again.” Remember your grandmother’s old adage? And it’s so true for being relational. Especially for lawyers. So often the knee jerk response to other’s conflict is to shake our heads, join, or, at the request of a potential client, file a lawsuit, or, perhaps to write a letter on behalf of the client to the person whom they feel has aggrieved them. That letter often carries with it the thin
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Blog, Being Relational
Have you seen the ABA’s recent report from the Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being (LWB)? Sobering. The Report says we have a lot of unhappy lawyers in our profession. It also reports that lawyer unhappiness is resulting in staggering rates of depression, alcoholism, suicide and other mental and emotional ailments. Serious stuff.
I recall testifying in our Maryland state legislature back in the late 1980’s on the issue of child support collection, making a case for why recalcitrant and delinquent payors,
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Blog, Being Relational
Tina Turner belted out in her 1984 lyric, What’s love got to do with it? You remember, right? The sizzly song about the crazy confusing experience of strong emotional and physical desires butting up against the rational protect yourself mental act. We can bet that when our Relational Mindset is in alignment with our behavior and actions that we too will experience that crazy push-pull. Well, maybe not quite as steamy as Tina Turner but definitely real, with our active
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Workplace & Commercial Disputes - Mediation, Blog
Employees expect to work in an environment free of discrimination, and employers need to be prepared to mediate any workplace disputes with confidence and ease. In the United States in 2016, there was a total of 91,503 workplace discrimination charges. To effectively handle discrimination disputes, employers need to give each situation the attention it deserves by taking certain steps.
Determine the type of investigation needed
Each workplace conflict is unique and should be treated as such. Employers first need to decide if
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Blog
Conflicts in the workplace isn’t an isolated occurrence to just your company, it happens in the majority of businesses. Particularly when you’re a small business or are just starting out, workplace disputes and conflict are prevalent. Moreover, when these conflicts go unresolved, they can lead to poor employee operation and behavior, such as depression, aggression, and high turnover rates.
In order to combat conflicts in the workplace, you should be familiar with the different types of conflict and how they might
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Blog
Divorce. Chances are you have heard of or know a couple who has gone through a divorce — after all, it is exceptionally common in the United States. In fact, the rate of divorce is astounding, as there is one divorce approximately every 36 seconds across the country. For perspective, this equates to 2,400 divorces per day, 16,800 per week, and 876,000 per year.
Despite these statistics, divorce doesn’t have to be in your future. Couples mediation can be exceptionally powerful
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Blog
Families are complex and require work and patience. Even the most tight-knit families have issues that need to be worked through. Sometimes it can feel as though a problem will break you apart and there’s nothing that you can do to fix it.
Utilizing family mediation can be a great way to come to an agreement on even some of the toughest issues.
What is family mediation?
Either you and your family mutually decide to see a third party mediator or one is
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Blog
In the last post, some helpful tips to resolve workplace conflicts and employment disputes were discussed. The previous tips focused around the importance of active listening, keeping the conversation on topic, and the delicate skill of expressing feelings and emotions without the conversation becoming too heated.
In this post, you’ll read a few more tips to help you resolve workplace disputes.
Ask, don’t tell
Even if you’re at the very end of your patience with one of your coworkers, you shouldn’t tell them
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Blog
Workplace conflict is a messy and undesirable situation; it’s also inevitable in any large office. Nobody wants to deal with a conflict, and certainly not if they struggle with their job as it is. On top of it all, 60% of employees are never given the opportunity to receive basic conflict management classes or communication training during their employment, making it more difficult to come to a resolution.
If you’re concerned about workplace conflict, whether as an employee or employer, here
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Family Disputes - Mediation, Blog
Divorce doesn’t always have to be contentious, and it certainly doesn’t have to end up in a court battle. Granted, it can be hard to be civil in certain scenarios and even more difficult to put emotions aside and come to a resolution.
You don’t have to do it alone, though. Divorce mediation, with the help of a professional and experienced mediator, can be a great way to settle your divorce without it turning into a large battle. Before you begin
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Press and Publications
Awards and Distinctions
“Chief Judge Robert M. Bell Award” for Outstanding Contribution to Alternative Dispute Resolution in Maryland (2018)
“Fellow”, International Academy of Mediators (2018)
“Top 100 MBE Award”, Minority Owned Business Enterprises for the Mid-Atlantic Region (2014)
“Brava Award”, SmartCEO Magazine (Top 15 Maryland Female CEOs, 2012)
“Most Spirited Woman Award,” the American Red Cross, MyCity4Her and the Baltimore Business Journal (2011)
“Special Leader of the Year Award”, YWCA, for work in leadership and the eradication of racism (2010)
“ACET”, First Mediation Trainer Nationally Approved as
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Blog
When people turn to a mediator for help, it is often helpful for the mediator to remember that conflict often takes a personal toll on people. People caught in difficult and long lasting conflict have often lost some self-confidence, clarity, openness to new approaches, and inner strength.
Often people coming to mediation have been in a difficult or hostile setting where they have argued, spoken to deaf ears, felt insecure or confused, or have themselves listened, not to hear, but
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Enneagram Workshops
Conflict Transformation, the Enneagram and Family Relationships: Reducing Conflict and Enhancing Understanding with Your Spouse, Partner and Children
Description:
It is difficult to be a fully loving partner, colleague or friend if you don’t possess a fundamental understanding of who you are. The Enneagram is a dynamic system of nine personality types set in a non-sectarian spiritual framework. It is meant to help us understand ourselves, the people in our lives, and our relationship to the greater realities that guide human evolution.
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4-Hour Mediation CLE, Trainings & Workshops OLD
Description:
Maryland law require all court-designated mediators in Maryland to receive a minimum of four (4) hours of continuing education toward excellence in providing mediator services. This is a certificated 4-hour course that provides advanced training for mediators and attorneys with a background in mediation. This course does not require previous mediation training, but those new to the field of alternative conflict resolution can expand on what they learn in this course in one of our basic trainings, available here:
February 40-Hour
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