New Panelist Teri Fields joins One Mediation

Teri Fields began practice as a law clerk for the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama. She then went on to practice law in the Creditor's Rights, Workouts and Insolvency Section at Burr and Forman, LLP in Birmingham, Alabama. Ms. Fields then moved back to her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia where she began practicing as an Associate in the Construction Law Group of Freeman, Mathis and Gary. From there she moved to the Georgia Department of Law where she served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Real Property, Construction, and Authorities section and conducted litigation as well as served as general counsel for several Georgia Authorities.

In June 2009, Ms. Fields opened the Fields Firm which specializes in general civil litigation, estate planning and probate litigation. Ms. Fields joined Townes Davis & Associates in February 2010 where she has added personal injury and premises liability to her practice.

New Panelist Cynthia LeMay joins One Mediation

Ms. LeMay's professional career in negotiation makes her uniquely positioned to arbitrate and mediate. In addition to negotiating union contracts, Ms. LeMay has brokered multi-million dollar deals for businesses and individuals. Her financial background serves parties well when a business dispute or family matter is being worked out. In today's economic climate, her knowledge of business, tax, and related legal matters has proven invaluable to parties who seek to work out their own resolution in lieu of prolonged litigation.

With her successes in corporate negotiations, Ms. LeMay has been called upon to mediate high-income couple's divorces. She has assisted parties with unraveling their highly entangled finances and business ventures, and enjoys assisting any divorcing parties with the equally important issues of co-parenting. Ms. LeMay specializes in QDRO's (Qualified Domestic Relations Orders), which involve division of benefits such as retirement. This expertise resonates with parties whose longer-term marriages have dissolved.

Ms. LeMay also has extensive experience with employee benefits and Human Resources issues, such as EEOC Charges of Discrimination, Employee Recruitment and EAP programs. She not only holds Series 7 and 63 NASD licenses, but also holds a certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resource Management (SPHR). Ms. LeMay has been a registered mediator with the State of Georgia since 1993.

Ms. LeMay is available to mediate on weekdays and weekends.

New Panelist Barbara Ellenberg joins One Mediation

Ms. Ellenberg has practiced law in the State of Georgia since 1989 and also serves as a mediator and arbitrator of disputes. She graduated from Emory University and earned her law degree from Georgia State University. Ms. Ellenberg personal background has served her well in providing legal counsel to business clients and for mediating business disputes as she, in addition to practicing law, owns a successful wholesale business which was co-owned for a long period with her ex-husband. This experience with a family business resonates in her corporate and domestic/divorce mediations.

In conjunction with Ms. Ellenberg's corporate law experience, she has a specialization with intellectual property and trademarking issues. Her understanding of this special legal field has served business disputants well in an age where technological advances create new and unique business disputes that are time sensitive and cannot wait for trial. As such, she has been an effective deal-maker in these kinds of business disputes.

Ms. Ellenberg is available to mediate on weekdays and weekends.

New Panelist Heather Wright joins One Mediation

Attorney, Heather C. Wright is the founder and owner of The Wright Firm, LLC, a general civil law practice located in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 2005, The Wright Firm represents individuals and businesses in personal, corporate, commercial, and civil matters. Heather C. Wright's current practice includes: corporate representation and consulting, commercial contracts, insurance coverage analysis and disputes, general liability disputes, personal injury, family law, mediation, arbitration, and general civil litigation.

Born in St. Petersburg, Florida, Heather C. Wright graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.B.A. in Finance in 1996, and received her law degree from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University in 1999. Following law school, Ms. Wright was the Staff Attorney to the Honorable Judge James G. Bodiford of the Superior Court of Cobb County, Georgia. After leaving the Court, Ms. Wright practiced with two of Atlanta's most prestigious litigation law firms before founding The Wright Firm.

In her practice, Ms. Wright represents a variety of individuals and businesses, and in so doing, quickly discovered that most disputes are better resolved through private negotiations between the parties. As such, Ms. Wright typically recommends some form of mediation or arbitration as a method of dispute resolution for her own clients. The Wright Firm currently represents several individuals for claims arising from various practice areas, including claims for anything from personal injury to child support. The Firm also represents several businesses as outside corporate counsel for matters relating to start-ups, commercial litigation, and other matters arising during the entire business life-cycle. In all of these matters, Ms. Wright seeks the best result through zealous advocacy with a mind toward reaching a resolution without unnecessary litigation. Balancing the client's substantive legal claims and interests with the mundane and costly procedural aspects of the average lawsuit is the most prevalent part of Ms. Wright's ongoing law practice. As such, she has formed a natural interest in reaching a win-win for the parties to a dispute, even when representing her own clients.

Mediate Criminal Cases? A Georgia Budget Solution?

On March 19, 2010, the revered Emmet Bondurant addressed the Litigation Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. During his presentation, he made an appeal to attendees to do pro bono work, but with a caveat: do not do indigent criminal defense work on a pro bono basis that otherwise should be done by the State (and at the urging of Sonny Perdue who claims that the State cannot afford to pay for the defense of the indigent). This call to aid those in need, but not everyone in need, does have its logic.

Mr. Bondurant's call to serve, but with a caveat, is in line with other esteemed minds in the legal community. Not long ago, for example, Leah Sears indicated that certain budget cuts to courts could be unconstitutional. So too, Mr. Bondurant's rally not to do indigent defense work on a pro bono basis also has a constitutional basis. Mr. Bondurant explained that to do this work pro bono would, in effect, relieve the State of its constitutional obligation to defend the indigent and enable it to avoid its constitutional responsibilities when budgets are tight. Thus, to borrow from psychology, to defend the indigent at the Governor's behest enables unconstitutional behavior.


In such a stand-off, unfortunately, it is the poor that have the most to lose.

Might there be another alternative that both sides could support? It could be greater mediation of criminal matters. The American Bar Association has proposed such measures and assisted with the implementation of such mediation programs in other states. Could it work in Georgia, too? Would mediation assist the State in meeting its constitutional obligations while making its budget? Perhaps.

Jack Hanna, a mediator and member of the American Bar Association, has written about the ABA's involvement in mediation of criminal matters and the success of such programs in Minnesota, among other jurisdictions. Mr. Hanna's article on ADR in the criminal arena, "Mediation Works In Criminal Matters," can be found by clicking here. Maybe it is time for Georgia to check out its alternatives.

Mediation and Confidentiality

by Jennifer Keaton

Confidentiality in mediation can be a tricky subject. If, in the mediation, liability is admitted or a particularly bad fact is disclosed - can it be used at trial? Or, can an incriminating statement made in mediation be used to impeach a witness/party during a late deposition?

Arguably, such "free speech" at a mediation can be prevented from being admitted into evidence through a variety of objections, motions in limine, etc. The admissibility of such statements also may be subject to varying State laws. However, it may be better (and cheaper) for attorneys to prepare clients to avoid this legal scenario altogether. But, avoiding major admissions at mediation may also be important for a psychological reason.

If major admissions are made in mediation, then the admission should be made with tactical precision. To do otherwise may result in the opposing party becoming more entrenched in the battle, not the negotiation. The motivation of the opposition can be altered with major disclosures in its favor - shifting from a spirit of resolution back to a continued pursuit of the jugular.

But, some might question whether parties should enter the mediation process with the intent to withhold information that would assist in all parties' assessment of their positions. If parties participate in mediation with the premediated intent not to disclose information, have those parties undermined the process of mediation itself?

Weigh in.

Mediation: Step-By-Step

by Jennifer Keaton

Step 1: What to Expect
Prior to most mediation sessions, the neutral may hold a telephone conference with each party. This call is an opportunity for the neutral to give the party an overview of the process and to receive a brief summary of the dispute. Dates, times and location of the mediation will be confirmed. It is part of preparation for the session.

Step 2: How to Prepare
Before the session, parties should evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their cases. Consideration should be given to providing information unknown to the other side beforehand or at the session if it would impact the other side's own assessment of the case. Logistically, parties should clear their schedules to minimize distractions to the session.

Step 3: Joint Sessions and Caucuses
Usually the parties begin mediation together in a joint session led by the mediator. After an introduction by the mediator, each party often provides an opening statement about the dispute. Frequently, mediators then will move parties into separate rooms, and the mediator will "caucus" with each party. These caucuses facilitate the flow of information and offers between the parties to facilitate agreement.

Step 4: If Resolution Is Reached
If an agreement is reached, a document will be drafted that captures the facets of it prior to the parties' departure from the mediation session. When parties have legal counsel, this document may include an agreement for the attorneys to prepare a more formal document that incorporates the mediation document.