8:00 – 8:30 am

Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 – 8:45 am

Welcoming Remarks

8:30 – 8:45 am

Welcoming Remarks

Extended by Jody Davis, Esq., Program Attorney, CBA-CLE, and representatives of the conference planning committee from the CBA Alternate Dispute Resolution Section, the CBA Family Law Section, the Colorado Judicial Department Office of Dispute Resolution, Consilia Conflict Resolution LLC/Court Mediation Services, and the Mediation Association of Colorado.

8:45 – 10:00 am

Mediation Ethics Panel

As in years past, the Ethics Committee of the Mediation Association of Colorado will offer a panel discussion of mediator ethics. Panelists will review fictional scenarios and give their opinions of the ethical issues practitioners should be mindful of if faced with similar circumstances in their mediation practice. Though not an exhaustive list, the following are areas that will likely be discussed by the panel:

-            Party autonomy and self-determination in mediation

-            Duty to disclose potential or existing conflicts of interest

-            Confidentiality

-            Advertising

-            Mediator competence and training

Panelists include Judy Mares-Dixon, M.A., Mares-Dixon & Associates; Andrew R. Shoemaker, Esq., Shoemaker Ghiselli & Schwartz LLC; Benjamin T. Stetler, Esq., Ben Stetler PLLC; and The Honorable C. Jean Stewart (ret.), Jean Stewart LLC

Moderated by Antonia (Toni) D. Ozeroff, JD, Ozeroff Mediation Services, LLC

Submitted for 1.5 Ethics Credit

10:00 – 10:15 am

Morning Break

10:15 - 11:10 am

Keynote Address

In Mediation and Our Polarized World: How Might “Understanding” Bridge the Divide?

How do we define success as mediators? In mediation, we often guide parties toward agreements. But is agreement enough? What happens when parties leave the table with a resolution, yet still feel unheard, blamed, or misunderstood? How might we expand our understanding of success?

What happens when mediators help parties move away from positionality, blame, and shame and instead create space for listening, reflection, and mutual understanding? How might this shift improve the quality of the mediation process, strengthen agreements, and sometimes transform relationships?

This keynote will explore what success can look like when new and seasoned ADR professionals incorporate practices that promote mutual understanding. Grounded in the Understanding-Based Model developed by Gary Friedman and Jack Himmelstein, we will consider how mutual understanding can deepen both the process and the outcome of mediation.

Our capacity to understand differences is urgently needed beyond the mediation room. The suffering we witness in conflict — feeling unseen, unheard, dismissed, or deeply divided — is also present in our communities, politics, workplaces, and families. In a polarized world, what might become possible when we are willing to be brave enough to understand people and perspectives with whom we disagree?

As ADR professionals, we carry something the world urgently needs: not just a set of skills, but a willingness to create space to slow down, listen across differences, move beyond fear and blame, and recover a sense of dignity and mutual humanity. Together, we will explore how mutual understanding can help us navigate conflict with greater curiosity, compassion, and courage and perhaps, begin to heal some of the divisions we feel in our daily lives.

Presented by Hansa R. Patel, Esq., The Center for Understanding in Conflict and Law and Mediation Office of Hansa R. Patel

11:15 – 12:05 pm

The Helix of Mediation: Combining Evaluative and Transformative Approaches

A truism of mediation practice holds that a mediator’s “style” exists on a spectrum: on one end, the evaluative approach focuses on case analysis to promote settlement, while on the other end transformative mediation seeks to empower the parties’ decision-making skills and relationships with others. This can be a false dichotomy. Mediators in court-referred cases of all types can employ evaluative and transformative techniques in tandem, through a helix of hard-headed analysis and opportunities for emotional growth, until they arrive at the brink of settlement. This involves a five-step process: (1) honoring the parties’ core experiences; (2) affirming undisputed issues; (3) zeroing in on key disputed issues; (4) confronting both the legal and personal uncertainty of trial; and (5) finding the “water line” of settlement. This technique evaluates the parties’ litigation risks, but it can also transform their emotional relationships to their case and their adversary, guiding them through the wrenching dilemmas of whether to continue their dispute or to let it go.

Presented by John B. Tweedy Jr., Esq., Tweedy Law LLC

12:05 – 12:35 pm

Lunch (included in your registration)

CBA-CLE will provide vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options if attendees note their dietary needs during registration

12:35 – 1:25 pm

Round A Breakout Sessions

Choose from Breakout Session #1 or #2 during registration.

Session 1

Adopting Design Thinking Principles into Your Dispute Resolution Practice

Design Thinking originated in the 1960s, and it was popularized in the early 2000s by David Kelley, Tom Kelley, and Tim Brown (of Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, aka "d.school", and IDEO).  They developed a formalized process for "human-centered" design, whether of a product or a service, consisting of five highly iterative stages, centered on the human/user experience. These stages -- empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test -- will be generally familiar to dispute resolution professionals, especially those in the public policy mediation world.  However, the method can be valuable in nearly any dispute resolution context, and how to implement this method is the focus of this presentation.  (Incidentally, this is NOT Dispute System Design, also from Stanford, though there are some common elements.)

Presented by Kevin J. Kinnear, Esq., Circuit Mediator, United States Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit

Session 2 

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Colorado Law on Mediation

What is the statutory and case law framework for Colorado mediations? What are the key court cases? When do you really have an enforceable mediation settlement? What parts of mediation are confidential? A helpful and practical session!

Presented by Steven C. Choquette, Esq., JAMS 

1:25 – 1:35 pm

Session Transition

1:35 – 2:25 pm

Round B Breakout Sessions

Choose from Breakout Session #3 or #4 during registration.

Session 3

Succeeding as a Mediator: Exploring the Business Side of the Profession

Building a successful mediation practice requires an entirely different skill set than mastering the craft of mediation, a skill set that training programs rarely address. This session explores the business side of the profession that practitioners at every level navigate largely on their own: how to get clients, how to structure and collect fees, what tools practitioners are actually using, and how to build a practice that is both professionally satisfying and financially sustainable. Using survey data from Colorado mediators and live audience polling, we’ll compare what your peers are doing against your own experience in real time. Whether you are just launching your practice or looking to refine your existing methods, you will leave better equipped to make business decisions that lay the foundation for long-term success.

Presented by Paul Orbuch, Orbuch Consulting, LLC; Ella Schroeder, Mountainview Conflict Resolution, LLC; and Morgan (Mo) Tregenza, Esq., levelheaded, inc.

Session 4

Bridging the Gap Between Winning and Children: Choosing Repair Over Victory

This presentation explores the positive outcomes that can be achieved through the use of restorative mediation in domestic relations cases involving children. Participants will learn how a relationship-based approach helps parties focus on the best interests of the child rather than on winning the dispute or harming the other party.

Presented by Jennifer Dexter, Dexter Mediation

2:25 – 2:35 pm

Session Transition

2:35 – 3:25 pm

Round C Breakout Session

Choose from Breakout Session #5 or #6 during registration.

Session 5

You’re Not Neutral and That’s Okay

We are called Neutrals, but none of us comes to the mediation table as a blank slate. If we want to make the experience of mediation more equitable for our clients, there are ways for us to be better mediators for the people we serve. This presentation explores how we become who we are, how it forms the way we think, and how we use the framework of cultural humility to help us see our clients better and to make us the best mediators we can be.

Presented by Lynn Teasley, M.A., Prosody Mediation & Conflict Resolution

Submitted for 1 EDI Credit

Session 6

Building Cultural Flexibility to Negotiate or Mediate in Diverse Settings

Cultural flexibility is the ability to value and be effective in different cultural and social peer groups and environments. This program will help you communicate and negotiate effectively in diverse settings. You will learn how gender and culture can affect negotiating styles and legal systems and how to prepare for cross-cultural negotiations and mediations.

Presented by Lisa Renee Pomerantz, Esq., Lisa Renee Pomerantz, Attorney at Law

Submitted for 1 EDI Credit

3:25 – 3:40 pm

Afternoon Break

3:40 – 4:40 pm

The Judicial Perspective on Mediated Agreements: A Moderated Discussion

What distinguishes a well-crafted mediated agreement from one that generates future litigation? In this moderated discussion, a panel of judges will share observations from the bench about common drafting issues, recurring areas of conflict, and the characteristics of agreements that best serve parties long after mediation concludes.

Panelists include the Honorable Todd E. Mackintosh (ret.), JAMS; the Honorable Elizabeth A. Weishaupl (ret.), JAMS; and others as well.

Moderated by the Honorable Angela A. Arkin (ret.), JAG

4:40 – 4:45 pm

Drawing for CBA-CLE Elite Pass and Closing Remarks

4:45 – 5:30 pm

Reception

Reception provided by The Mediation Association of Colorado

Location Information