We are in the process of revamping our Mediation Training Institute and will be posting a new calendar in January 2026.
Thank you for your interest in our program.
Upcoming CME, CLE and Mediator Training
Upcoming Continuing Education and Mediation Courses.
40-hour General Civil Mediation, October 28-November 1, 2024 Enroll
46-hour Family Mediation, October 28-November 1, 2024 Enroll
Mediation Law, Ethics and More, October 29, 2024 Enroll
Cross-over courses available October 29-November 1, 2024. Contact us for more details.
If there is another course that interests you, contact us for future course dates.
Help4TNDay April 14, 2018
Tennesseans will be able to get free legal help online or in person at clinics near them. There will also be legal educational events across the state. The events will kick-off in the beginning of April and continue throughout the month.
Attorneys have the opportunity to volunteer their time to assist disadvantaged Tennesseans at pro bono legal advice clinics and public service events all across the state.
The primary goal of the public awareness campaign is to bring attention to the on-going need for free and low cost civil legal services in Tennessee and highlight the groups that provide these services to disadvantaged Tennesseans. For More Information, click HERE.
PDRS will offer a free TN Parenting Plan Clinic for professionals working with divorcing and never-married parents on April 13 and a TN Parenting Plan Clinic for divorcing and never-married parents on April 14. Pre-registration is required. Contact us for more details.
Help4TNDay is a program joint effort by the Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission, the Administrative Office of the Courts, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services, and the Tennessee Bar Association. For full details about the Access to Justice Program, click HERE
Interest Based Approach to Workplace Conflict
Many of us see conflict as a sign of failure—especially in a workplace setting. When conflict begins to contaminate that setting, we have many choices about how to resolve it. Enjoy this article by distinguished mediator, educator and author Steve Erickson.
Why We Should Care About Civil Mediation
Why should anyone who is not in the legal profession or the mediation business care about alternative dispute resolution? Here are few reasons why everyone should get to know this kind of conflict management. But first, let’s take a look at what mediation is…and isn’t.
The American Bar Association gives us this mediation definition:
“Mediation is a process in which an impartial third party facilitates communication and negotiation and promotes voluntary decision making by the parties to the dispute. Mediation serves various purposes, including providing the opportunity for parties to define and clarify issues, understand different perspectives, identify interests, explore and assess possible solutions, and reach mutually satisfactory agreements, when desired.”
The bottom line – mediation gives parties equal footing in the resolution of their dispute. And most mediation is the result of a court order, making ADR a great alternative than going to court. Rather than have a judge or an arbitrator hand down a judgment, ADR by a professional mediator focuses on exploring the issues that led to the dispute and finding areas of agreement that are going to last.
Mediation is not Arbitration. Arbitration is basically like hiring a private judge. Here’s a brief video on the difference between mediation and arbitration provided by the Indiana State Courts:
Here are four reasons you should consider mediation before you (or your attorney) file a lawsuit:
- Mediation resolves your problems…now! The U.S. legal system is built to drag litigation on. This is, in part, because of a lack of staff and resources. But is also because our legal framework assumes that there is an imaginary battle of opposing forces. There is the good versus evil, the innocent and the guilty. Court is about adversaries and is designed to find guilt. But civil cases that go to court often are more complex.
- Mediation costs are much, much lower than litigation. At around $250 per hour, mediation can settle disputes in one day, and often in one morning. Think five hundred dollars or a grand is a lot of money to settle a dispute? Think about how much work the disputant’s lawyers will but into a case that could last a year or more. They bill at $300 per hour and up. Mediation saves all those legal fees, which is why many lawyers fear mediation. And value of saving sleepless nights…priceless.
- Mediation, by nature, collaborative. Beyond the resolution of legal conflict, mediation gets to the core of differences between the interested parties. Most times, conflict is about something other than what is in dispute. In mediation these are called “underlying issues.” Think about divorce mediation or dispute resolution between partners in a small business. Is the problem really about who gets the blue couch? Trained mediators get to the heart of the dispute and find core issues.
- Mediation goes beyond courts. All the mediation techniques that work in heading off lawsuits also work outside of the legal system. Alternative dispute resolution methods are used in corporations, non-profit organizations, governments and in international diplomacy.
Now the trick is to convince attorneys that mediation’s benefits outweigh all those billable hours. And if you are an attorney who understands the value of mediation, the trick is to find trained mediators who will follow its best practices.
Private Dispute Resolution Service offers mediation, mediation training and conflict resolution services to those who want to manage conflict in their legal affairs, their organizations and their lives.
