Season 03 Episode 11

In January 2003, Alan Saler launched what quickly became a thriving mediation practice. He has always enjoyed the luxury of being an independent, full-time provider of mediation services. As a mediator, he draws on his considerable prior legal experience representing plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of litigation matters. In this episode, Alan shares the story of two heroic people who died attempting to rescue the driver of a car involved in an accident, how their deaths impacted their families, and how Alan was able to help the families through mediation

Season 03 Episode 10

Eric Galton has been a Texas attorney for 47 years and a full-time mediator for 35 years and has mediated nearly 8000 cases in 22 states and 16 foreign nations. He is a Distinguished Credentialed Mediator with the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association and a past president of the International Academy of Mediators. In this episode, Eric tells the story about the mediation of a case involving 450 hemophiliacs, a blood transfusion product manufactured by four of the largest pharma companies on the planet that infected the parties and loved ones with HIV, and how setting up the mediation for success led to resolution.

Season 03 Episode 09

Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA, left a successful career as a trial lawyer to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity on many levels, doing so as an award-winning author, teacher, trainer, and highly experienced mediator. In this episode, Doug tells the story of a divorced couple engaged in a dispute ostensibly about the use of money that had been in a trust fund, how their emotions had escalated the conflict, and the discovery of the power of affect labeling not only to resolve their dispute but also to change people’s lives.

Season 03 Episode 08

Michael G. Balmages, Esq. is an accomplished mediator and discovery referee with extensive experience as a trial lawyer, general counsel, and transactional lawyer. As a mediator and neutral, he has had great success in helping litigants resolve their disputes in more than 1,000 cases. In this episode, Michael tells the story of a litigated matter, its effect on the parties’ long-term relationship, the price paid in both monetary and non-monetary respects, and why two mediations failed to result in settlement.

Season 03 Episode 07

Phyllis W. Cheng, Esq., has excelled at every stage of her career. For nearly seven years, Ms. Cheng was Director of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), the largest state civil rights agency in the United States, where she oversaw the largest settlements in DFEH history. In this episode, Phyllis joins Len to tell the moving story of a university student whose life was disrupted by a false accusation of sexual assault, a denial of due process by the university, and his suspension as a student. Through an agreement reached in mediation, he was able to move forward with his life.

Season 03 Episode 06

Jeff Trueman, Esq., is an experienced, full-time mediator and arbitrator. Specializing in interpersonal conflict, he is well known as a manager of difficult conversations. Jeff joins Len Levy to tell the story of a family reunion suddenly becoming transformed from a joyous occasion to one of life-changing injury and grief and how the mediation Jeff conducted was instrumental in removing the impediments preventing the injured parties from obtaining the help they needed to cope with their injuries and help them heal.

Season 03 Episode 05

Wendy Kramer, a full-time neutral on the ADR Services, Inc. panel of neutrals, is one of the most sought-after mediators with a reputation for being highly effective in bringing parties to resolution. In this episode, Wendy joins Len to tell the story of a gay high school student, long bullied and subsequently physically injured by his tormentor, the misdiagnosis that exacerbated the injury, and the power of apology and remorse in a mediation that made healing possible in some very surprising ways.

Season 03 Episode 04

Lee Jay Berman became a full-time Los Angeles mediator 28 years ago and has since mediated over 2,500 cases. As an AAA Master Mediator panelist for employment matters and on AAA’s national roster for commercial and construction disputes, he trains mediators through the American Institute of Mediation locally and worldwide. In this episode, Lee Jay tells the story of a successful business, embezzlement, and whether the parties could agree to a business dissolution without killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

Season 03 Episode 03

As one of the most effective mediators and professors of mediation, Stacie Feldman Hausner has impressed attorneys, their clients, and fellow mediators with her deep knowledge of the intricacies of the mediation process and her ability to apply those concepts successfully. In this episode, Stacie tells the story of two longtime friends and a business opportunity gone wrong, resulting in an emotional dispute that affected their friendship, families, and community, and the healing made possible by mediation.

Season 03 Episode 02

Mark Baer is an attorney who works as a mediator, conflict resolution consultant, coach, trainer, and educator on implicit bias and emotional intelligence. His approach to conflict recognizes that emotion impacts decision-making and that the litigation process itself often incites rather than calms harmful emotions. In his conversation with Len, Mark conveys the story of a married couple who are also business partners, how bias caused conflict in both their business and personal relationship, and what it took to change that trajectory.