Our Training Staff

 PRINCIPAL TRAINERS:

Catherine Conner is an attorney practicing mediation and collaborative practice in Santa Rosa, California. She has been practicing family law since 1982, focusing exclusively on resolutions outside of court for the last seven years. She was the founding president of Collaborative Council of the Redwood Empire, a co-author of Collaborative Practice Materials, and regularly lectures and trains on collaborative practice and mediation. 

Gary Friedman is co-founder and co-director of the Center, and practitioner with Mediation Law Offices in Mill Valley, California. He is author of A Guide To Divorce Mediation (Workman Publishing) and conducts training programs in mediation and mediative approaches to the practice of law in the United States, Europe and Israel. He recently authored , with Jack Himmelstein, Challenging Conflict:  Mediation Through Understanding.

Jack Himmelstein is co-founder and co-director of the Center, and conducts training programs in the Understanding-Based Approach to mediation and conflict resolution in the United States, Europe and Israel. He previously taught at Columbia Law School and was also a founder of the City University of New York School of Law.  Co-author with Gary Friedman of Challenging Conflict: Mediation Through Understanding, he currently teaches and practices mediation in New York City.

Katherine Eisold Miller is an attorney practicing mediation and collaborative practice in Westchester County, NY. She has been practicing family law since 1987, first as a litigator and now exclusively outside the court system. She has taught family law at the White Institute and NYU as well as with the Center and lectures regularly on mediation and collaborative practice. She is a Board member of the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals.

ASSOCIATES:

Barry Berkman is an attorney/mediator in private practice and partner with Berkman, Bottger & Rodd, LLP in New York City. Mediating since 1982, he also practices collaborative law, is a founding member of the New York Collaborative Law Group, is currently on its Board, and has taught family law as an adjunct professor at the Cardozo School of Law.

Norman Fischer is a poet, author, Zen Buddhist priest and former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center. As founder of the Everyday Zen Foundation (www.everydayzen.org ), his work with meditation practice has taken him into many corners of contemporary American life: including the arts, education, hospice training, education, and lawyering as a spiritual path. Recently, he began offering meditation training to engineers at Google. Norman has worked with the Center for Challenging Conflict on inquiries that focus on bringing the calmness and insight of meditation practice directly into conflict situations. His latest book is Sailing Home: Using the Wisdom of the Odyssey to Navigate Life's Perils and Pitfalls (from Simon and Schuster, June 2008).

Kathy Stoner maintains a mediation and law practice in Pacific Grove, California. She is a certified specialist in family law and author of Divorce Without Court, A Guide to Mediation and Collaborative Divorce, Nolo, 2006.

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT US

"The information I received at this training was incredible. I have taken other mediation trainings, and I have found this method to be the standard by which others are measured. I have been able to use the techniques throughout my practice."

"Both teachers have discovered a successful combination of communicating theoretical knowledge about business mediation, on the one hand, and directly implementing this knowledge in role play, on the other hand, which has turned this training course into a valuable enrichment for me, both in technical and personal terms."

"A much more interesting and satisfying approach to mediation."

"Extremely well done, much more in depth than I imagined it would be. Brought me a whole new understanding of mediation. Taught important skills in a great atmosphere."

"Pedagogically impressive!"

"A good mix of practice, theory and open discussion."

"Jack and Gary are great teachers and facilitators. They were funny, knowledgeable, and obvious experts in the field."

"The BEST 39 MCLE credits I've ever earned! I was never bored...I was totally immersed in the program, both in and out of the sessions."