News and Updates

Winter is a great time to reflect on the the previous year and contemplate moving forward.  The more experience I have gained mediating, the more I have seen the value in using those skills in my everyday life.  The top five life lessons I have learned from mediation are as follows:

1.       Take time to listen.   Most people want to feel heard.  When they don't feel like they are being heard, t...

When we last saw Santa and Ms. Holly Jolly at mediation, Ms. Jolly had started to state her needs and interests. In Scene 2 Santa gets to tell his side. I hope you enjoy Scene 2 of 3 - Santa Mediation :)

Please enjoy the conclusion:  Scene 3 of 3.

There are many personality traits that are helpful for a mediator...including a compassionate nature, patience, understanding, perserverance, and also a sense of humor.  To that end, please enjoy my mediation parody involving Santa Claus.  The following is Scene 1 of 3.

Merry Christmas :)

There is still quite a bit of confusion about what mediation is and what mediators do.  Part of the problem is that mediation is not yet a regulated industry.   Some people expect mediators to deliver decisions King Solomon style.   

Recently I was shocked and annoyed to find out that the proceedings on popular "reality" court TV shows were being billed as mediation.  The website for The Peopl...

You may have read my thoughts about online dispute resolution in previous blog entries.  Now here's your chance to learn more for free.  The Werner Institute is hosting a free online virtual conference November 4-8.  Click here to learn more.  

Lately I have been encountering a number of landlord-tenant cases while mediating at the Circuit Court of Cook County.  Mediation can be particularly useful in situations where the people involved have an ongoing relationship.  If a tenant wants to stay at their apartment, he or she will have to continue to deal with the landlord.  The same is true when a landlord wants to keep a tenant.  If th...

Jennifer LaDuke will be at ACR-Chicago's Conflict Resolution Day on October 17, 2013.

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