Publications

In my thirty plus years of legal practice and almost 1700 mediation cases at the time of this writing, I have developed my own list of best practices in every stage of mediation. These come from what I observed as a mediator and as an advocate. At first, I thought it was because some of…

Tell us the basics: Who are you, what’s your company’s name, and how long have you been at this company? I am an attorney, arbitrator and Virginia Supreme Court-certified mediator in the family and civil areas. I’m also an authorized mediator, mentor and alternative dispute-resolution trainer. I am a partner of CMG Collaborative Law Offices,…

Today, more and more people are finding themselves in the position of having to care or make decisions for elderly relatives. This becomes increasingly more difficult when there are two or more family members involved and they disagree. Often this occurs when a mother or father dies and the other parent is left alone. Should…

In Virginia, section 20-107.1 of the Virginia Code sets out the law with respect to spousal support.  The court, in deciding whether to award support and maintenance for a spouse, must consider the circumstances and factors which contributed to the dissolution of the marriage, specifically including adultery and any other ground for divorce as stated…

I recall one of my first mentors in the legal field advising me to work on changing my language to develop more powerful speech. As a young lawyer, woman, and minority over thirty years ago, in the very conservative insurance and financial services industry; I needed to learn how to make my speech work for…

Why is mediation preparation important? Mediation allows parties to have a discussion and possibly develop a solution to the dispute. The assistance of a skilled and experienced mediator helps to provide the parties with a facilitator who can assure a neutral environment. Mediators also help both sides explore options and use proven techniques to overcome…

“Reframing” is taught in all the basic mediator training courses, and mediator mentors and instructors evaluate and coach novices and students in mediation on their development of this acquired skill.”Framing” refers to the manner in which a client describes the way he or she sees a conflict situation, goal, concern (interest) or issue. Clients often…

As a collaborative lawyer and trainer, I am constantly working on communication and negotiation skills. One of the reasons I became a collaborative attorney is that the skill set needed is in many ways the same as in mediation, and therefore easily transferrable. The information below although not originating in the collaborative practice area, was…

In recent years I have noticed a developing trend in divorce mediation. Specifically, there are many more marriages where the parties are also business partners. I first noticed this in my mediations involving married parties from other cultures; notably Asian, Hispanic, and Caribbean. Later, I noticed the same trend in those born in the United…