Essentials for Elder Family Mediation Training Trainers & Speakers
Trainers
William A. Eddy, LCSW, ESQ.
William A. (“Bill”) Eddy is an attorney in San Diego County with 18 years experience representing clients in court and providing mediation services, primarily in family law. He is a Certified Family Law Specialist (CFLS). Previously, he provided psychotherapy for 12 years to children, adults and families in psychiatric hospitals and outpatient clinics as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He is currently the Senior Family Mediator at the National Conflict Resolution Center in San Diego. He is on the part-time faculty of the National Judicial College and the part-time faculty of Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law.
Bill is the President of High Conflict Institute and has provided training to legal professionals in over 25 states, several provinces in Canada, Australia, France and Sweden, on managing highconflict personalities in legal disputes. He has presented at annual conferences to the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys and to the Washington State Bar Association Elder Law Conference.
He is the author of several books, including: High Conflict People in Legal Disputes (2006); It’s All YOUR Fault! 12 Tips for Managing People Who Blame Others for Everything (2008); Splitting: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone with Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder (2011) and BIFF: Quick Responses to High Conflict People, Their Personal Attacks, Hostile Email and Social Media Meltdowns (2011). His website is: http://www.highconflictinstitute.com.
Marcia Haber
With over 25 years of experience as an attorney, mediator, teacher and program designer, Marcia Haber founded Discover Conflict Solutions to provide effective approaches to conflict management training and individual coaching.
Marcia H. Haber designs and implements innovative programs such as A.I.R. Waystm (Awareness, Issues and Responses) to Conflict Resolution for a practical and easy system for consumers to learn effective personal and business conflict management skills.
Marcia has consulted with WISE & Healthy Aging to coordinate the Los Angeles County Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST), an integral part of its Elder Abuse Prevention Program. Additionally, she has consulted with the Southwest Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) for grandparents parenting their grandchildren with special needs. Marcia co-founded ARMS (Adult Resolutions & Mediation Services), a multi-disciplinary cooperative effort providing consumer and professional training programs about aging and dependent adult related conflict resolution and mediation.
As a conflict management consultant and training specialist, Marcia works with large corporate and small business clients as well as individuals. She has taught mediation, negotiation and business law courses at the American Jewish University (formerly University of Judaism) and a 36-hour Conflict Resolution/Mediation for Health Care Professionals course at the Southern California Regional Occupational Center. Marcia is certified to provide the Conflict Dynamics Profile (CDP) assessment to enhance individual and training outcomes.
Marcia is a member of the Board of Directors of The Peninsula Seniors. She is an active member of the Association for Conflict Resolution and the Southern California Mediation Association.
JENNIFER KRESGE, MEDIATION & COUNSELING SERVICES
Advanced Practitioner / Educator, Association for Conflict Resolution
Licensed Marriage, Family and Child Counselor
1308 Main Street, Suite 114
St. Helena, California 94574
Telephone 707-963-5586
Jekresge@aol.com
Jennifer Kresge is a mediator and a licensed marriage family and child counselor in private practice in St. Helena, California. She has been in clinical practice and providing mediation and clinical training for twenty four years. She mediates family, trustee and business disputes, divorce, custody and visitation, personal injury, as well as school and government conflicts. Her clinical and mediation practice also includes participation as a Special Master, consultation, expert witness, and custody evaluations. She is Past President of the California County Boards of Education, and is an elected trustee on the Napa County Office of Education, for which she is currently Vice-President. In addition to initiating the development of a Strategic Plan for the California County Boards of Education, she is one of three state county board members who were selected to serve on the legislative policy making committee for the State of California. She has been directly involved in social, political and economic leadership, and has assisted in the development of programs which have benefited individuals and organizations.
Ms. Kresge is the Peer Court liaison for the Napa County Superior Court and a facilitator/trainer for Juvenile Justice Curriculums and Kids Turn, an educational program designed to help parents and children who are undergoing, or who have experienced, separation or divorce. She is an adjunct college professor, serves on a variety of committees that address the needs of the community and is a member of the Napa Valley Leadership Council. She has been a guest instructor and adjunct professor in both the private and public sector, including Loma Linda University, the Administrative Office of the Courts for the State of Alabama, the University of Idaho, Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama and Pepperdine University.
She is presently serving on the board of directors for the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California (ADRNC), and serves on the Napa Valley Leadership Council. For the past five years she has been involved in post graduate coursework in neuroscience, and she is a member of the Brainy Bunch.
Speakers
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Bunni Dybnis, Bunni Dybnis, MA, MFT, CMC
Director of Professional Services, LivHOME, Inc.
Bunni Dybnis is the Director of Professional Services of LivHOME, the nation’s leader in professionally managed care services for seniors.. She brings over as 30 years experience as a Licensed Marriage, Family Therapist and Certified Care Manager.
Bunni’s knowledge and experience makes her a respected consultant, educator, speaker, writer and expert witness on the challenges faced by families and professionals in understanding issues facing older adults. Bunni has been interviewed for numerous articles on aging in the L.A. Times, NY Times and NPR. Bunni teaches a course on aging at Philips Graduate Institute and regularly presents on both a local and national level.
Since 1993 Bunni has focused on issues of aging in both the profit and non-profit environment and is a recognized leader in Geriatric Care Management.. She is a Fellow, past board member, regional president, conference chair and identified leader in the National Association of Professional Care Managers (NAPGCM). She has been honored both regionally and nationally for her work in Geriatric Care Management.
Bunni is currently President of the Board of OPICA Day Care and Counseling Center, Additionally, she on the board of Trinity Hospice and ARMS (Adult Resolution and Mediation Services). She is an active leadership in several other local and national organization involving older adults. Bunni is proud to be the 2012 honoree for MAPS Charities for Seniors in Need.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Bunni is a proud alumnus of Carthy Center, Palms Junior High, Hamilton High, UCLA and CSUN.
Darrell W. Gurney, CPC Forrest (Woody) Mosten, Esq. MediatorForrest "Woody" Mosten is a Certified Family Law Specialist, who has been in private practice since 1979 as a Collaborative Attorney and Mediator in Los Angeles handling dissolutions, pre-marital agreements, and post-divorce conflict involving property, support, parenting and other complex, high-conflict issues. Mr. Mosten does not accept engagements that involve litigation. He practices with a collaborative and problem-solving model and has trained mediators, collaborative lawyers, therapists and organizations throughout the world and serves as a negotiation and mediation consultant for other family lawyers. Mr. Mosten also teaches mediation as a member of the faculty of the UCLA School of Law.
In addition to training, consulting, and teaching, Mr. Mosten’s has written numerous published articles and his books include Collaborative Divorce Handbook, Mediation Career Guide, Unbundling Legal Services, and Complete Guide to Mediation. Mr. Mosten is recognized as the “Father of Unbundling” for his pioneering work in promoting Discrete Task Services for lawyers to play a major and effective role in mediations and his ABA book, Unbundling Legal Services: A Guide to Delivering Legal Services A La Carte.
Mr. Mosten is the Editor of Family Court Review’s Special Issue on Collaborative Law, was the Plenary Presenter at the 2008 Annual Conference of Association of Family Conciliation Courts, and was the opening Plenary presenter on Frank Sander’s Lectures at the 2009 ABA Dispute Resolution Meeting in New York.
Mr. Mosten has also been credited as the inventor of the Client Library, Confidential Mini-Evaluation, and as an authority on preventive law including his use of the Conflict Wellness/Personal Legal Check-Up, first developed by Mr. Mosten’s mentor, Professor Louis M. Brown.
Mr. Mosten is a recipient of the ABA Lawyer as Problem Solver Award, Lifetime Legal Access Award, and was named 2009 Frank Sander Co-Lecturer. He is the first recipient of the Los Angeles Bar Associations Conflict Prevention Award, is a Los Angeles Super Lawyer, and Southern California Peacemaker of the Year.
Mr. Mosten is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California, Riverside and received his Juris Doctorate at the UCLA School of Law. He is a husband, father, and passionate golfer, whose handicap ranges from 10 to 17, depending on his workload.
Edward Phelps, EsqPhelps Law Group
Edward M. Phelps graduated from Loyola Law School in 1975 and from the University of California at Berkeley in 1972 where he received a B.S. degree in Business Administration with emphasis in finance, real estate and insurance. He has over 30 years of experience handling business litigation in state and federal courts, including appellate experience. Subjects include securities broker/dealer litigation, personal injury and business tort litigation, commercial and business litigation. He has extensive experience in real estate development including planning commission and city council matters. He has represented clients in complex business and real estate transactions, including commercial leasing, real estate development for commercial use and regional shopping centers, loan documentation, purchase and sale documentation. He represented financial institutions for over 10 years in banking, litigation and transactional matters. From 1989 to 2002 he was a member of the firm of Phelps Law Group, a professional law corporation, and is presently Of Counsel to the firm.
Mr. Phelps serves as a private mediator as well as a court appointed mediator and is a member of the Probate Panel of mediators for the Los Angeles Superior Court. He applies his 30 years of legal experience to mediation with a high success rate in areas of business, real estate, tort litigation and trust and estate matters and other areas of the law. He also serves as a professional fiduciary for several trusts.
Mr. Phelps was adjunct professor at Loyola Law School where he taught real estate development law for over 7 years. He was a member of the La Canada Flintridge City Council from 1988 to 1992. In May, 1992, he was invited by the Moscow Committee on the Environment (Moscow, Russia) to present a paper on federal and state legislation concerning controls over the environment, zoning and building construction. Mr. Phelps was a speaker at the 2002 and 2004 where he presented a unique program on business planning for law firms. His program was subsequently described as one of the "Best of NAELA" programs. He authored a article on this subject in 2007 for the California Trust and Estates Quarterly. Mr. Phelps was admitted to Bar of California, 1975; U.S. District Court, Central District (1975); US Tax Court (1978). He is a member of the California State Bar, Pasadena Bar Association and National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He has two sons, both of whom are Eagle Scouts.
Ruth Phelps, EsqPhelps Law Group
Ruth A. Phelps received her undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. She received her JD degree and her LL.M. (taxation) from Loyola Law School.
Mrs. Phelps is a Certified Elder Law Attorney and a Certified Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Specialist, which has been highlighted in the 2010 Southern California Super Lawyers publication. She is the President of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, a national organization of about 4,300 lawyers practicing in the field of elder law. She is a past member of the Executive Committee of the Trust and Estates Section of the State Bar of California, past President of the Southern California Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a member of the Board of Advisors of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California.
She is the author of several chapters for California Continuing Education of the Bar, including chapters on compensation for guardians of the person, administration of special needs trusts, probate family allowances and homesteads. Mrs. Phelps is a 2007 Spirit of CEB recipient.
She is an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School, teaching Elder Law.
She has two sons, both of whom are Eagle Scouts.
Myer Sankary, Esq.Elder Mediator, Psychology of Persuasion Certified Trainer
Myer J. Sankary received his BA in Philosophy from Texas Christian University in 1962, and his JD from Harvard Law School in 1965. He has been actively engaged in the practice of law for over 45 years, the last six years of which he has been exclusively a full time mediator with ADR Services, Inc. Myer has been active in State Bar Activities, as the chairman of the Solo and Small Firm Section, and is now senior advisor to that section, as well as a member of the State Bar Mandatory Fee Arbitration Committee. He is the chair of the MFA program for the San Fernando Valley Bar Association. He is also on the Probate and Estate committee of the LA County Bar Association. And he is on the LA Superior Court Supervising ADR Committee that manages all of the mediations that are referred to members of the mediation panel. Myer was also the former President of the Southern California Mediation Association.
Myer is a member of the Neuroleadership Institute, and was personally trained by Dr. Robert Cialdini , the author of the best-seller, “Influence; Science and Practice,” and received his CMCT certification to present the Principles of Persuasion workshop based on Cialdini’s acclaimed research in this field. (He is the only attorney and mediator who has been certified to present this skill workshop.) For several years, Myer has been a lecturer at the USC Marshall School of Business, presenting negotiating workshops for MBA students and providing basic training in mediation skills. Myer has presented numerous programs at the State Bar Annual Meetings as well as to local bar associations and law firms as well as business organizations and associations on numerous topics relating to application of cognitive sciences to business and law practice. Myer teaches the application of cognitive sciences to lawyers and business leaders to become more effective leaders in their professional careers by using the science of the mind and social influence. He has attended numerous advanced courses by leading neuroscientists applying theories of neuroscience to resolving high stakes, high emotion conflicts.
Myer recently presented a program to the office of general trial counsel of the State Bar on the use of social and cognitive science in the practice of law. He also trains lawyers to become arbitrators for the Mandatory Fee Arbitration programs. He will be presenting an introductory training program on MFA on September 14. 2011, at the Long Beach Bar Association . In addition, in September Myer will be training mediators in elder law mediation and in November he will be leading a panel on this topic for SCMA. The Solo Section of the State Bar has honored Mr. Sankary with the annual Myer J. Sankary Outstanding Achievement Award given out at each annual meeting for the attorney who has shown significant contribution to the bar and for public service.
Michael H. White, J.D. Assistant Professor Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding Programs California State University, Dominguez Hills
Michael H. White is an assistant professor at California State University Dominguez Hills teaching in the Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding Program. He has been a mediator for more than 20 years, with substantial emphasis on family disputes resolution, and a practicing attorney for 35 years. Michael is a long-time member and a past-president of the Beverly Hills Bar Association. Among courses he teaches is Family Mediation and Divorce as well as Ethics for Mediators. Combined with experience in developing legislation for the protection of the rights of the elderly, dependent and disabled persons, he has lectured on the issues and problems associated with an aging population. He has been a part of the Death with Dignity movement on a national level and was co-author of the initiative on that subject in the 1992 California elections.
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