Association of Missouri Mediators Annual Conference

We had a great annual conference in 2017, and you can still purchase access to the recording of the event!

Access Handouts and Recordings of Sessions (password required)


General Information:
Morning Session:

Afternoon Sessions

Conference Program

Time
Event
9:00 – 11:00  ​
Professor Noam Ebner - “Negotiation is Changing, Mediation Too” -  Presenter live at KC site, by video to regional sites and video registrants

Over the past fifty years a variety of frameworks have been formulated to explain how negotiation works, including prescriptive advice for conducting it.  These models have gained adherents, advocates and opponents who have affected our understanding of the mediation process and the mediator’s worldview. Over those fifty years technology has changed the way we do business, live our personal lives and interact with others.  Negotiators are changing. Changes in our  
methods of communication and our perception of the role of communication in negotiation necessitates inquiry into how this has altered the dynamics of negotiation. Professor Ebner will explore how negotiation is undergoing fundamental change and how mediators can adapt their practice to a changing world.
 
Professor Noam Ebner is Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at The Werner Institute, Creighton University School of Law. After practicing as an attorney, Professor Ebner shifted focus and established Tachlit Mediation and Negotiation, which deals with a wide spectrum of issues, including commercial, divorce, business partnership, and employment disputes. Originally from the U.S, he now divides his time between his home in Jerusalem and his teaching, training and consulting activities in the U.S. and abroad. He is a regular visiting professor at Sabanci University in Turkey, and a senior fellow and visiting professor at the U.N. University for Peace in Costa Rica.
11:00-11:30
AMM Annual Membership Meeting by video

Lisa Blumenstock, President of the Association of Missouri Mediators, will preside over our annual membership meeting – including activity reports, election of board members and officers, upcoming programs, and details on AMM’s celebration of national Mediation Week. Members may participate in person or by video conference. ​
11:30-12:30 ​
Lunch and Networking - Box lunch at sites (included with your registration fee) or lunch on your own for video participants
12:30-1:20 ​
Workshop 1: Sarah Read - “Rethinking Opening Statements & Process”

There are frameworks and metrics that a mediator can use to analyze and resolve conflicts more effectively, and even help to prevent future conflicts. Facilitation AnalyticsTM are tools for reshaping the opening statement and steps in the mediation process in ways to help mediators unpack, analyze and navigate conflict. . These tools help a mediator work more efficiently to chart a path to resolution by identifying conflicts within systems and relationships, how they intersect, and how they influence communication between people in a dispute.
 
Sarah Read concentrates her practice in the areas of alternative dispute resolution and law practice management. Prior to moving to Missouri, she was a partner at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago, Illinois, working with its Antitrust, Commercial and Regulatory Litigation group and its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) resource group.  She works with individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and community groups.
1:30-2:20
Workshop 2: Lawrence Altman - What Mediators Need to Know About Changing Standards for "Educational Progress" Under I.D.E.A.

 The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected the long held view that a child’s individual education plan provided an appropriate public education as long as the child made de minimis progress. A more demanding standard under I.D.E.A. requires mediators to understand this standard, what schools must offer disabled students, and the limits on what services are required.
 
Larry Altman has over three decades experience as a practicing attorney and was Special Education Lead Attorney and Compliance Officer and Title IX Coordinator for Kansas City Missouri Public Schools. He serves on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Legislative Workgroup for Prevention of Student Bullying and Suicide, and co-authored a book on Title IX compliance and bullying prevention in 2016. Larry is an adjunct professor at Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri.
2:30-3:20
Workshop 3: Dawn Kuhlman - "Trauma Informed Mediation"

 “Trauma” can involve physical injury or extreme stress springing from an event that overwhelms a person’s ability to cope. Psychological trauma is a uniquely individual subjective experience.  The circumstances of the event commonly include abuse of power, betrayal of trust, entrapment, helplessness, pain, confusion, and/or loss. Secondary or vicarious trauma is a particular risk in the helping professions.  This workshop will define and explore the concept of trauma, how to recognize the symptoms, and how to integrate concerns of trauma victims in mediation.
 
Dawn Kuhlman is a mediator, trainer, co-parent coach and parent coordinator.  She is a certified administrator of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  She is owner of Kuhlman Conflict Solutions LLC, and  has fifteen years of experience in the court system and social service industry.
3:30–4:20
Workshop 4: Ron Wiesenthal - "Ten Things to Do in Your Next Employment-Related Mediation"
Not every case is all about the money.  Employment cases tend to involve misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and career reputation issues that have non-monetary components.  Ron will discuss ten ways to maximize party satisfaction that impels them to say “yes” to a consensual settlement.
 
Ron Wiesenthal is a mediator and owner of the St. Louis Mediation Center.  His mediation career began in 1990 as part of his law practice.  In 2004 he closed his law practice to pursue a fulltime mediation practice.  He is a member of the Missouri and Texas Bars, the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, the American Arbitration Association panel of mediators and is recognized as a Best Lawyer and Super Lawyer in Mediation.  His proudest accomplishments though are those as husband, father and grandfather.
4:30 ---
Local receptions and networking