News and Updates

The Illinois Chapter of the Association of Attorney-Mediators will be sponsoring Settlement Week April 7-11, 2014. During Settlement Week you have the opportunity to utilize a mediator at a reduced cost, with the proceeds benefiting a specified charity.  

Convergence Mediation's own Jennifer LaDuke will be one of the mediators volunteering her time. Check out AAM's website for more information, including the schedule.

Veterans' Day was originally called Armistice Day and commemorated the World War I cease fire agreement signed between Germany and the Allies in 1918.

As the daughter of a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Army, I grew up with an appreciation for the military.  This year for Veterans' Day I want to make conflict resolution accessible for the men and women who have served in the past or are currently serving.  Military service requires many sacrifices and presents unique logistica...

Earlier this week I had the chance to participate in a simulation of a landlord-tenant dispute involving a broken washer in the tenant's unit.  In the simulation the landlord was out of town, and the tenant needed the problem fixed asap.  The whole simulation was conducted online by the Virtual Mediation Lab:  http://www.virtualmediationlab.com/vml-mobile-mediation/example-of-online-mediation-tenant-v-landlord-dispute-acr-chicago-and-virtual-mediation-lab-16-min-video/

I have mixed feeling abo...

I recently received a question asking how one avoids a "pointless mediation" when the other side makes an "obscene demand," but the court has ordered mediation.  As a form of conflict resolution, mediation can be productive even with difficult parties.  The first thing I would suggest is to look at the mediation as an opportunity to find out more about what the other side is thinking. 

In mediation you can ask why the other person thinks they are entitled to their demand. You can ask about wh...