WELCOME 2010!
Message from President Phyllis G. Pollack, Esq.
As we ease (or is it slip-slide?) into 2010, SCMA strives to offer many opportunities for growth and advancement to our valued members. We appreciate and thank each one of you for supporting our organization.
Because of your continued membership and support, [...]

SCMA has established the SCMA Education Fund (the Fund) as a California non-profit corporation for the general purpose of promoting education about, and encouraging the use of, mediation and other methods of conflict resolution to resolve disputes. The Fund will raise money to fund its efforts by seeking contributions from individuals and organizations. The Fund’s [...]

Members are Invited to Attend unless otherwise stated.
(Call SCMA Office for Time and Place)

SAVE THE DATE!!!


Saturday, November 6, 2010 – SCMA 22nd Annual Fall Conference


The Business of Mediation: (A Frank Dialogue about the Practice of Mediation)

Keep checking back. More details to come…

Click on this link and check out the upcoming events for 2010! We hope to see each of you at our many Programs, Seminars, Meetings and Events! Our goal is to educate you in a way that will stimulate and inspire! Look for more information each program as we move forward.

Conflict Coaching is becoming a larger and larger part of my practice.  One of the many applications: Coaching one party in a dispute is a great Plan B when only one party is willing to come to the table.
Ideally, mediators would like to sit down with both (or all if there are more than two) [...]

My pro bono mediation time in the Los Angeles and Ventura Superior Courts has included mediating and supervising the mediation of civil harassment and small claims matters in various courthouses. This often requires delivering five minute speeches to primarily “pro per” litigants awaiting their hearing on the merits in an effort to extol the virtues of mediation as an alternative form of dispute resolution. The success of these presentations depends upon a variety of factors, including the clarity and courtroom presence of the speaker, but it primarily requires that the content of the “pitch” include a “back to basic” approach in utilizing intake and convening theory.

Civil harassment mediation, from an outsider’s perspective, seems to be a daunting environment in which to achieve a settlement. Parties have an emotional dispute, are not likely to cooperate with each other, and mediation time is limited. Nevertheless, settlements are achieved by applying well known concepts from basic mediator training.

Family law mediators can use these inexpensive web-based tools to help clients create and follow good custody-sharing plans. With OurFamilyWizard.com and ShareKids.com

Welcome to the new home of SCMA on the web. We are very pleased that SCMA has now updated its web presence to benefit our members as well as the public.
We want to keep you informed of outstanding educational events that are presented each month by some of the leading mediators in our community. These events will advance mediators understanding and skills of this exciting and challenging field.

Compassion is a human trait that too often gets left by the wayside in our hurry up society, compassion not only for others, but for ourselves. However, we are fortunate at this time to have many inspirational teachers of compassion some of whose thoughts are reflected in this article. To all of them, may we [...]