Author Archives: abfifer

My Hero

March 30, 2017 – 8:09 pm

Faithful, strong, generous, smart, caring, witty, honest, interested and interesting – these are only some of the qualities I admired in the man who is my hero. He would laugh when I would tell him he was my hero. He would reply, “Many people have it much worse than I do.” But I’m not sure […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on My Hero

Court-Ordered Apology

March 22, 2017 – 8:18 am

Of what value is a judge-ordered apology? A Michigan court ordered a state official last week to apologize to Flint residents for her role in perpetuating the Flint water crisis. Will it help the official? Will it help Flint residents feel better? There may be some value to the “offender,” who is forced to face […]

Posted in Apologies | Comments Off on Court-Ordered Apology

Grievance Filed Against Attorney-Mediator

December 28, 2016 – 8:50 pm

How much must a mediator disclose to the parties about the mediator’s social relationship with one party’s attorney? That question is at the heart of a complaint filed by the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission against an attorney-mediator in a divorce case who failed to disclose to the husband’s attorney during the course of their year-long […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Grievance Filed Against Attorney-Mediator

Christian Mediation in Nigeria

December 14, 2016 – 9:36 am

The Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria (“CLASFON”), the oldest and largest Christian lawyers association in Africa, is leading the way in bringing mediation to Nigeria. Two years ago, CLASFON invited Iowa attorney and Christian conciliator Laurie Stewart to teach a five-day course on inter-personal biblical peacemaking to over one hundred CLASFON lawyers in Nigeria. These […]

Posted in Peacemaking | Comments Off on Christian Mediation in Nigeria

Safety in Mediation

October 13, 2016 – 2:39 pm

A colleague recently did a business mediation here in Michigan where he discovered after the fact that both parties were carrying concealed weapons. As this becomes more commonplace in the U.S., it behooves us as mediators to do what we can to ensure party safety in mediation. One way to ensure that no one brings […]

Posted in Learnings from Mediation | Comments Off on Safety in Mediation