When mediation reaches a standstill, it can feel as though progress is slipping away. Yet these moments often hold the greatest potential for transformation. In this webinar, we will explore practical skills to meet impasse with clarity, curiosity, and compassion. Learn how to reframe resistance, shift the emotional tone, and guide the conversation forward in a way that honors both the process and the people in it. 

GARY FRIEDMAN

Mediator, Mediation Law Offices Co-Founder, The Center for Understanding in Conflict Since 1976, Gary Friedman has been practicing law as a mediator with Mediation Law Offices, and since 1980, he has been teaching mediation through the Center for Understanding in Conflict, which he co-founded. In partnership with his colleague, Jack Himmelstein, he developed a new model of mediation—the Understanding-Based Model—that is now practiced extensively in the United States and Europe. As one of the first lawyer mediators and a primary force in the current mediation movement, he has used this model to complete over one thousand mediations in the last two decades, including numerous two-party and multiparty disputes in the commercial and nonprofit realms, in the areas of intellectual property, real estate, corporate, personnel, partnership formations and dissolutions, and family law. In addition to training lawyers, law professors, and judges through the Center for Understanding in Conflict, he has also taught courses in negotiation and mediation at Stanford University Law School, the New College of Law, Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation, and the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva. A prolific writer, Friedman has published three books on mediation.

LEYLA BALAKHANE

Leyla Balakhane is a family law mediator known for her compassionate and effective approach to conflict resolution. She co-founded Mediation 40 Hour Training Mastery with Jennifer Terando to guide and inspire the next generation of mediators. A recipient of the 2023 President’s Award from the Southern California Mediation Association (SCMA), Leyla serves on its Board of Directors and chairs the Membership Committee. She also leads SCMA’s monthly Professional Development Group for Family Law Mediators and is on the Board of the Academy of Professional Family Mediators, where she contributes to national and international mediation efforts. Leyla’s practice centers on helping families create safe, supportive environments for children. She mediates in areas including divorce, adoption, family businesses, eldercare, premarital and post-marital agreements, and blended family dynamics. At Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court, she serves as an advisor to mediators handling complex family cases. With warmth, expertise, and a global perspective, Leyla continues to elevate the field of mediation and support families in shaping their own futures.

COST

SCMA Student & Sustaining Members- No Cost

SCMA Members- $25.00

Non-Members- $48.00