View Sessions On-Demand: 2025 Florida Dispute Resolution Conference

Schedule of Sessions

The opening plenary session will introduce the manner in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved generally for dispute resolution and how it is employed specifically in mediation. The distinguished panelists will share advantages and disadvantages that arise with the use of AI, as well as specific ethical and pragmatic challenges mediators face in this rapidly-evolving environment.

CME: 1.5 hours with 0.5 hour of mediator ethics
CPCE: 0.5 hour of mediator ethics
CLE: 1.5 general hours including 1.5 technology under course number 2507631N

Mediators, especially mediators who are not attorneys, will benefit from tips and tools for dealing with attorneys whose behavior in mediation is aggressive, insulting, indifferent, or self-interested. By discussing relevant portions of the Rules for Certified and Court-Appointed Mediators, Chapter 44, Florida Statutes, and The Florida Bar's Professionalism Expectations, this program will educate mediators and provide suggested language for reminding attorneys of their duties and obligations to their clients, to the Bar, and to the mediation process.

CME: 1.2 mediator ethics hours
CPCE: 1.2 mediator ethics hours
CLE: 1.0 general hour including 1.0 legal ethics under course number 2507630N

When the parties reach “the end of the road" in their negotiations, impasse can occur. The mediator’s proposal can be the “silver bullet” that knowledgeable mediators employ to avoid impasse. This program will address the mechanics of the mediator’s proposal, with emphasis on ethical constraints and considerations. It will also address tips and lessons learned from an experienced full-time neutral.

CME: 1.2 mediator ethics hours
CPCE: 1.2 mediator ethics hours
CLE: 1.0 general hour including 1.0 legal ethics under course number 2507632N

The presentation will include a brief overview of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), its purpose, and protections. It will further include a discussion of Title II and Title III requirements of program access, reasonable modifications to policies and procedures, opportunity and integration, and effective communication as they apply to the core mediation concepts of self-determination, the needs and interests of the parties, fairness, procedural flexibility, confidentiality, and full disclosure. The presentation will further explore auxiliary aids and services useful to ensure effective communication with scenarios to help illustrate the various concepts.

CME: 1.2 cultural diversity hours
CPCE: 1.2 cultural diversity hours
CLE: 1.0 general hour under course number 2507633N

As a mediator you play a key part in the administration of justice by fostering joint problem solving and exploring settlement alternatives. You work hard to do your job and sometimes things can go wrong, including not getting paid or worse, a party or attorney threatens to (or does) file a grievance against you. It is important to know both your rights and responsibilities. This seminar discusses ethical requirements as well as steps you can take to protect and preserve your relationships, with a focus on written explanation of fees. We discuss mediation engagement agreements, explanations, and other alternatives to a signed engagement agreement. We will provide useful samples and a common-sense overview of how to get paid for your mediation services.

CME: 1.2 mediator ethics hours
CPCE: 1.2 mediator ethics hours
CLE: 1.0 general hour including 1.0 legal ethics under course number 2507634N

While once thought of as controversial, the 2025 Rule Revisions (10.370(e)(3) have now clarified (in a committee note) that mediators can fill out supreme court approved forms after a mediated settlement agreement has been reached.

There is a significant market for this service. Many couples want to avoid the pitfalls of an attorney driven divorce. These couples just want someone to help them reach an agreement and prepare their paperwork so they can go in front of a judge for an uncontested divorce. Mediators who provide this service have found different ways to operate. However, to be successful there are a few guidelines that should be followed. Successful in this instance means serving the clients while ensuring the mediator is adequately compensated. In this session, David and Elinor will discuss some of those guidelines.

CME: 1.2 mediator ethics hours
CPCE: 1.2 mediator ethics hours
CLE: 1.0 general hour under course number 2507636N

Family and dependency mediations present unique challenges, particularly when narcissistic individuals are involved in cases of domestic violence, interpersonal violence, child abuse, and orders of protection. This seminar will explore how narcissistic behavior impacts mediation in cases involving violence against women and children, offering practical tools and strategies to help mediators safeguard vulnerable parties, manage power imbalances, and prioritize the best interests of the child.

CME: 1.2 IPV hours
CPCE: 1.2 IPV hours
CLE: 1.0 general hour under course number 2507637N

This year’s ethics plenary will be an overview of amendments to the Rules for Certified and Court-Appointed Mediators that were implemented effective on January 1, 2025. The presentation will focus on amendments that implement new standards of professional conduct (e.g., Conflicts of Interest), codify and clarify practices addressed in selected MEAC opinions (e.g., Caucus, Staff Confidentiality, Reporting Outcome, and Social Networking), and clarify existing rule language (e.g., Orientation Session, and Adjournment or Termination). The presentation will also discuss amendments to the qualifications for mediator certification, especially the summary process for county court mediator certification.

CME: 1.2 hours of mediator ethics
CPCE: 1.2 hour of mediator ethics
CLE: 1.0 general hour including 1.0 legal ethics under course number 2507639N

Understanding and identifying the enemy's tactics, resources, and movements is the key to winning a war. The same is true when diffusing conflict or moving people into agreement. Understanding the personality type and what motivates a person is the first step to successful outcomes. The more correctly you can identify the driving force behind a personality and what motivates them, the better you can anticipate the pitfalls and negative behavior patterns that are likely to emerge. This allows you to have strategies ahead of the issues and understand what that individual needs to stay on a positive track. Whether you are mediating a marital settlement agreement or crafting a parenting plan or acting as a parenting coordinator, developing a "sixth sense" for recognizing behavioral patterns is often the most valuable tool in your toolbox.

CME: 1.2 hours
CPCE: 1.2 hours
CLE: 1.0 general hour including 1.0 mental health and wellness under course number 2507640N

A sixty-minute course taught by veteran mediators and trial lawyers on strategies for handling the toughest situations that commonly derail mediation. This seminar is based on techniques outlined in the “Florida Mediation Best Practices Handbook” which contains mediation strategies contributed by over 800 mediators and trial lawyers.

CME: 1.2 mediator ethics hours
CPCE: 1.2 mediator ethics hours
CLE: 1.0 general hour including 0.5 legal ethics and 0.5 professionalism under course number 2507642N

This session begins by exploring simple, but powerful tools lawyers, mediators and parenting coordinators can use to settle difficult disputes. Attendees will learn to eliminate obstacles applying effective "strategies for solutions" to orchestrate opportune information-sharing, restore broken trust, advance problem-solving dialogue, and avoid passive-aggressive behaviors. Attendees will learn to notice when parties fail to share accurate information and how to advantageously correct errors and omissions that stand in the way of productive solutions. The session addresses a gap in mediation training outlining when, what and how to share sensitive information, explore possibilities, and time disclosures to strategically manage expectations and avoid the "mediator's dilemma" of ambivalence between guiding with neutrality, advancing with confidentiality, and equitably navigating equivocal interests, values, wants and needs. The session ends by explaining how to more accurately read cues in conversation, understand differing appraisements, identify how to cultivate value, package opinions, modify misperceptions, and effectively share information to suitably align antipodean interests, discourage negativity, encourage collaboration, deny forced solutions, and advance the calibration of interests to align them suitably.

CME: 1.2 hours with 0.5 hour of mediator ethics
CPCE: 0.50 hour of mediator ethics
CLE: 1.0 general hour including 1.0 legal ethics under course number 2507644N

In this workshop, participants will learn strategies to achieve the best chance of resolution including: pre-mediation preparation (submissions to mediator, preparing the client for reasonable expectations, understanding the process); during mediation techniques (speaking with attorneys without clients (with consent of parties), mediator proposals, benefit of adjournments in certain cases); and post mediation action (benefits of a cooling off period, follow up, identify areas where progress made).

CME: 1.2 hours with 0.5 hour of mediator ethics
CPCE: 0.50 hour of mediator ethics
CLE: 1.0 general hour including 1.0 legal ethics under course number 2507645N

This workshop is designed for attorneys and mediators who have difficult clients and can utilize the mediation process to achieve a positive outcome. It answers two core questions: “Why is this person being difficult?” and “What can I do in mediation that will be effective?” The presentation will explore neurobiology concepts from polyvagal theory, present strategies and techniques to handle challenging behaviors, share skills for effective communication, and discuss practical tips to facilitate a successful mediation process.

CME: 1.2 hours
CPCE: None
CLE: 1.0 general hour under course number 2507647N

This workshop focuses on the intersection of co-parenting and addiction recovery, offering tools and strategies to help individuals navigate the challenges of raising children while in recovery, or with a co-parent in recovery. Participants will learn how to navigate and facilitate complex situations through healthy boundaries and effective communication. The workshop will also address the unique emotional and psychological dynamics that can arise from addiction recovery, providing support and guidance on how to heal relationships with co-parents and create a stable, nurturing environment for children.

CME: 1.2 IPV hours
CPCE: 1.2 IPV hours
CLE: 1.0 general hour under course number 2507650N

High-conflict family dynamics are difficult to navigate with mounting aggression, accusations of abuse, opposing parenting methods, irreconcilable differences, and polarizing disputes. The idea that some type of intervention for the family unit may resolve some, if not most, of the issues, seems too good to be true. What are these interventions, and which one is best?

CME: 1.2 hours with 0.5 IPV hour
CPCE: 1.2 hours with 0.5 IPV hour
CLE: 1.0 general hour under course number 2507653N