D01, Arbitration Update – Meah Tell (Non CME)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00Recent changes to the Florida Arbitration Code and Federal and State cases decided in the
past year impacted the field of arbitration. The most significant changes and court decisions
will be discussed.
D02, Asking Questions in Mediation? Tell Me More! – Amy S. Wolsky, Robin Caral Shaw (2.1 CME Credits General)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00Some mediators find themselves stuck and don’t know how to ask an appropriate question.
Some mediators are afraid of silence. This program gives the mediator tools for asking the right
questions at the right time during mediation, and allows the mediator to fulfill his/her role as
facilitator of the parties’ discussions. By learning how and what to ask -- and understanding that
mediations have three basic stages -- will allow the mediator to avoid the awkward silences and
move the process forward in a substantive way. By asking questions in the right way at the right
time, the mediator is causing the participants to be introspective and to evaluate facts and
circumstances, strengths and weaknesses, in a more realistic way. Presenters Robin Caral Shaw
and Amy Wolsky have brought valuable tips and tools to the DRC since the turn of the century.
D03, Building a Successful Mediation Practice: A Comprehensive Marketing Strategy – John Upchurch (2.1 CME Credits General)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00The presentation will offer a strategic approach to marketing the mediation practice. The initial
focus will center upon defining the target audience, both present and potential. Messaging
and an effective communications strategy will follow, with emphasis on the need to produce
provocative and interesting content. Staff practices, advertising and special event marketing
will be touched on, leading into a review of best practices in designing and maintaining the
website, and developing a comprehensive digital presence through the current array of social
media platforms.
D04, Collaborative Practice: What Is It & Why Do We Do It? – John Sullivan, Joryn Jenkins (Non CME)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00Three presenters all critical to the collaborative process (one lawyer, one facilitator, and one
neutral financial expert) discuss how this process is used to facilitate communication between
divorcing spouses and to problem solve issues raised in dissolution of marriage and other
matters in such a way as to both protect clients’ relationships with family and friends, while
enabling the two parties to create the foundation for their post-dissolution relationship with
each other. A comparison with the traditional court process will explain why the collaborative
process is usually preferable, both from the individual perspective, as well as from a societal
point of view.
D05, Cross-Cultural Considerations in the Mediation Process – George Knox (2.1 CME Credits Cultural/Diversity Awareness)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00This workshop is designed to explore the meaning of Culture in the context of the Mediation
process, and to recognize that there are many definitions of Culture that affect the thinking
and behavior of participants in a problem-solving setting. Workshop participants can become
aware of cultural dimensions and variations that are at play, and gain a greater understanding
of the ways that parties communicate, based on their values, beliefs and standards. Participants
will also explore their own values, beliefs and standards, and become sensitive to the need to
avoid bias in carrying out their roles as facilitators.
D06, iPad / iPhone Apps (and Other Technology) for Mediators – Christopher Hopkins (2.1 CME Credits General)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00This session will teach mediators: (1) iPhone and iPad apps for mediators in order to run a
more efficient mediation practice; (2) mediation technology to meet your clients’ needs; (3)
understanding the technology which lawyers are trying out in mediation before they try the
case; and (4) how to maintain your mediation documents on an iPad and have participants sign
the deal digitally on your iPad.
D09, Never As Good As the First Time: How to Make Each Mediation Fresh – Nicholas Taldone (2.1 CME Credits General)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00Because many mediators are engaged on the basis of their substantive knowledge in, or
familiarity with, a particular field and deal with the same attorneys and factual scenarios, their
mediations may become mechanical. This presentation will explore methods for conveying
interest in the process and the disputants’ well-being and enthusiasm to participants, focus on
the importance of opening statements for providing not only a procedural description but to
address anticipated questions from the ignorant disputant and hostility from the unreasonable
disputant, and ways to better engage the parties in the process through data collection.
D10, Parenting Coordination: What Drives Parental Conflict after Divorce – Terry Mattingly, Dana Nolan (Non CME)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00For the benefit of mediators, family law attorneys and prospective parent coordinators, this
presentation will shed some light on the role and responsibilities of parent coordinators as they
pertain to working with parents who are struggling to co-parent and follow their parenting plan.
Most parents who are referred to work with a parent coordinator are usually in “high conflict”
and present for PC work after months or years of battling with an ex-spouse or partner. During
this presentation, we will address and problem-solve the common challenges and obstacles
that parent coordinators face in helping parents work through their conflict and learn to
effectively co-parent.
PL1, Opening Keynote – Art Hinshaw (1.2 CME Credits General)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00Art Hinshaw’s research and teaching interests lie in the field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), primarily mediation and negotiation. His research bridges ADR theory and practice, and his teaching responsibilities include the Lodestar Mediation Clinic and Negotiation among other ADR courses.
Professor Hinshaw is active in the ADR community having served on several academic and professional committees at the state and national levels. Currently, he serves as a member of the ABA's Standing Committee on Mediator Ethical Guidance. Additionally, he is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution at the University of Missouri School of Law and is a contributor to Indisputably, the ADR Prof Blog. Outside of the ADR realm, Professor Hinshaw is a member of the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Professor Hinshaw joined the College of Law faculty after teaching at the University of Missouri School of Law and at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. Before his academic career, he practiced law in Kansas City, Missouri.
PL2, The Use, Overuse & Misuse of Caucus in Mediation – Harry Goodheart (2.1 CME Credits General)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00Skilled mediators shape the process to be most productive for each individual case. This presentation offers mediator skills and techniques which will help you determine if, when and how to use caucus and how to promote and facilitate direct communication and negotiation, ensuring more durable resolutions and party satisfaction.
Harry G. Goodheart III, lives in Tryon, North Carolina, where he divides his time between
conflict resolution projects and his antiquarian bookstore. A Certified Mediator in Florida,
North and South Carolina, Harry has mediated many complex and multi-party cases since
1988, and provides certification and advanced mediator and negotiation courses for the
South Carolina Bar and Charleston School of Law. He has taught for the National Judicial
College and earlier this year led an advanced mediation workshop in Kerikeri, New Zealand.
A Member of the Florida Bar since 1973, Harry practiced law in Bradenton and served as a member
of the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court Rules Committee for
Mediation and Arbitration. He is a Diplomate and former President of the American College of Civil
Trial Mediators, and is the 1998 Award of Merit recipient from the Florida Academy of Professional
Mediators, in recognition of outstanding contributions to the mediation profession.
PL3, Mediator Ethics Plenary – Heather Blanton, Hal F. Wotitzky, Jeanne E. Potthoff (2.1 CME Credits Ethics)
Price range: $15.00 through $18.00Heather Blanton is the Mediation Services Coordinator for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit as
well as a Florida Supreme Court certified family, dependency and county mediator. Heather
has worked with the circuit’s mediation department for almost 18 years and was a past
volunteer with the Guardian ad Litem Program (1994-1996), Children and Families Supervised
Visitation Program (1996-2002), and the Teen Court Program (1989-2007). She is a current
member of the Florida Supreme Court ADR Rules and Policy Committee and is a member of the Mediator
Qualifications Board. Heather graduated with honors from the University of South Florida in 1994.
Hal F. Wotitzky, Esq. is a full time professional mediator and arbitrator. He was certified by
the Florida Supreme Court as a Circuit Civil and County Mediator in 1994 and as a Family
Mediator in 1995. He founded the Wotitzky Mediation Center in 2004 and co-founded
Mediation Education, LLC in 2010. Mediation Education, LLC is certified by the Florida
Supreme Court as a mediation training provider for the Circuit Civil Mediator Certification
Course and also provides continuing mediator education.
Mr. Wotitzky is a Primary Trainer for the Circuit Civil Mediator Certification Training and is a Florida
Supreme Court Qualified Arbitrator. He currently serves on the Mediator Qualifications Board, is a
charter member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, a member of the Florida Circuit-Civil
Mediator Society and the Florida Bar (1986). As a result of his involvement in a family business for much
of his legal career, Mr. Wotitzky has a special interest in mediating disputes involving the family, including
disputes arising out of the administration of estates, the family business, real property, trusts and probate.
Jeanne Potthoff has worked for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit’s Court Mediation and
Arbitration Program for twenty-four years. During this time, she has served in the capacity of
case manager, juvenile arbitrator, mediator, facilitator and coordinator of various mediation and
arbitration programs. She has been the division director of the programs for over six years.
Ms. Potthoff is a Florida Supreme Court certified family, dependency, county court and circuit
civil mediator and qualified arbitrator. She is a primary county court trainer and an assistant
family and dependency mediation trainer.
Ms. Potthoff is a past president of both the Association of South Florida Mediators and Arbitrators and the
statewide mediation organization, the Florida Academy of Professional Mediators.
Currently, Ms. Potthoff serves on the Mediator Qualifications Board and is looking forward to serving as a
result of her recent appointment to the ADR Rules and Policy Committee.