Mediation

For parties facing the costs and burdens of litigation, “finding the deal” is imperative. 

Often, a neutral mediator can help parties generate and evaluate options that are overlooked in the heat of litigation. 

Deborah has over 20 years of experience as a mediator, helping parties understand risk, create opportunity and craft durable resolutions.   She has helped parties resolve cases as an independent mediator, and as a neutral on panels of the American Arbitration Association,  CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Dispute Resolution, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and the Business Litigation Panel of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. Deborah is certified as a mediator by the International Mediation Institute.  

"I try to assure that mediation takes place at an appropriate time in the "life" of the dispute, that the right people attend, and that each party has disclosed information that is essential to negotiations," Deborah says.   "I coach counsel and the parties to invest in the mediation, to acknowledge others' viewpoints and to forge agreements on process. I strive to create and maintain a framework in which parties feel comfortable disclosing their needs, at least in caucus - and in which different ideas for resolution can be generated and considered. I give parties the opportunity to be heard by an informed neutral, and a supportive environment in which to air emotional or other concerns. I am flexible in format and approach."

Deborah has mediated commercial cases, as well as disputes between joint venture partners, family members and shareholders, employment, discrimination and civil rights cases, and insurance coverage disputes.