Meet our Mediation Team

Tony Belak is the Ombuds at the University of Louisville, associate director of the Center for Conflict Resolution at La Sierra University, Riverside, California, associate director of the International Center for Compassionate Organizations www.compassionorg.net  and the former executive director of the International Center for Collaborative Solutions at Sullivan University, Louisville, Kentucky, where he was also on the faculty of the Master of Science in Conflict Management program. He is a faculty member of the University of Louisville Department of Urban and Public Affairs and associate editor of the onlineJournal of Conflict Management at Sullivan University. He was the senior dispute resolution counsel for the Department of Veterans Affairs and is not only a mediator and arbitrator but also a teacher in basic, advanced and specialized conflict resolution. He is recognized for his innovation in designing conflict resolution programs within the workplace.He has taught conflict resolution at the University of Louisville, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, Indiana University Southeast College of Business, and M.B.A. courses and seminars at the Vienna campus of Webster University and Bratislava, Slovakia.

He is the first attorney graduate of the George Washington University Interagency Institute of Federal Health Care Executives (1992). He was an original founder of the Louisville Bar Association ADR Committee and served for eight years on the Kentucky Bar Association ADR Committee and as its chair for two years. He is the founder of Regional Counsel for the Department of Veterans Affairs and was an initial member of the Civil Justice Reform Act Committee for the Western District of Kentucky, former assistant Commonwealth Attorney, special assistant the U.S. Attorney, and president of the Federal Bar Association, Kentucky chapter. He is a certified mediator and arbitrator with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Kentucky Collaborative Family Network, the U.S Postal Service REDPRESS Program, trained as an arbitrator by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), a mediator/arbitrator with the Southern Indiana Realtors Association, Inc., and a past member of the Louisville Labor-Management Committee. He also is past two term chair of the Louisville Bar Association ADR/Mediation Section, past president of the Mediation Association of Kentucky, and president of the Kentucky chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association.

Mr. Belak has traveled throughout the United States and Europe lecturing and training in mediation and dispute resolution, and is a founding member of the International Working Group on Compassionate Organizations. He has taught mediation skills to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) internal mediators and conflict resolution training to United Nations and Austria Kontrollbank managers and supervisors in Vienna, and to Irish Department of Defense mediators in Dublin. He is the founder and past president of the Federal ADR Council, Inc., a non-profit shared neutral mediation project for the federal agencies in Kentucky and Indiana, the oldest in the nation. He was instrumental in establishing the Mediation Association of Kentucky, the Jefferson County Court Annexed Mediation Rule, the Federal Court prisoner petition mediation project, and one of the earliest peer and truancy mediation programs in Jefferson County, Kentucky. He served on the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service focus group to establish core competencies for their internal roster of neutrals, the Administrative Office of the Courts Mediator Guidelines Committee, and has published articles in national magazines and local newspapers regarding conflict resolution. He began his interest in ADR as an ombudsman in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor in Illinois in 1973. Mr. Belak can be reached at 502.345.6763 or tony.belak@yahoo.com.     

Patti Cotton Pettis is a professional and certified executive coach and organizational development consultant. She specializes in leadership development and change management, coaching for conflict, increased self-confidence, personal effectiveness and authenticity, and communication and negotiating skills.

Patti works with executives, teams, and special work groups, and utilizes evidence-based models based on best practices for leadership and team development to maximize learning, growth and potential. She is certified by the International Coach Federation, Harvard-trained in Immunity to Change methodology, and a certified facilitator for Amherst Writers and Artists' generative writing. She facilitates workshops and retreats on immunities to change, forgiveness, life purpose, the power of individual and collective strengths, and visioning.

Patti is a seasoned executive with more than 25 years of multicultural experience in the realms of philanthropy, Swiss diplomatic relations, public relations, and communications. Her master's degrees are awarded from La Sierra University in English Literature, and from Fielding Graduate University in organizational management and development. Her thesis topic at Fielding reflected her work in coaching at-risk youth to increase social and emotional intelligence skills through the utilization of transformative conflict resolution. She is also a graduate of Fielding's Evidence Based Coaching program. Patti currently serves on the following boards: Alternatives for Domestic Violence for Riverside County, Riverside Community Health Foundation, and the Riverside Library Foundation.

Enrique Koenig is a fully bilingual mediator in both the Spanish and the English languages. He is well-versed in the Latin American culture. He has considerable experience in business management and administration having considerable exposure to business interests both in the United States and Mexico. As a business owner the last 25 years, he has developed skills in cooperative management, human resources management, administration, legal team building, and promotion and marketing.

His objective in providing mediation services, conciliation services and conflict resolution consultation is to assist the parties in developing greater knowledge and understanding of their needs and interests uniquely associated with their case. This exploration will usually lead the parties to discover common interests between them, regardless of their underlying dispute. Mr. Koenig's approach in dispute resolution is strategic and collaborative in scope.

The expertise of the attorneys associated with the particular case, combined with the collaboration of other professionals focusing on relevant problem areas, will elevate the parties' overall knowledge of their own position, but also increase their awareness of the other parties' positions. By this approach, the collaborative goal is to help the parties in dispute to discover commonalities between them that might promote mutual cooperation in the quest of ultimate resolution.

He believes that impasse is an opportunity that creates possibilities rather than limit them. Focusing more clearly on individualized objectives, rather than the source of impasse in every case, has proven to be an excellent way to educate parties. It further encourages the parties to engage in a meaningful exploration of potential solutions instead of focusing only on the area of discord between them.

Attorney Donald Lancaster has demonstrated success as both a litigator and counselor-at-law representing both individuals as well as corporate entities with unparalleled results. Skillfully navigating small and midsize businesses through complex transactions inherent with growth, Mr. Lancaster provides counsel to businesses in the areas of corporate compliance, governance guidance, business development, bankruptcy, and trademark registration.

Prior to practicing law, Donald Lancaster served governmental entities and elected officials as a trusted adviser of intergovernmental affairs and public policy. Experienced in local and state politics, he has an instinctive command of multilayered public and private sector issues and how those issues intersect in the disciplines of business law. 

Donald Lancaster graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in public administration. Mr. Lancaster obtained his Juris Doctor degree from California Western School of Law in San Diego, California and is a published author in the Howard Law Journal. He is also trained as a mediator at La Sierra University's Center for Conflict Resolution.

A member of the State Bar of California, Donald Lancaster is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeal of the Ninth Circuit; the Northern District Court of California, United States District Court; and the Central District Court of California, United States District Courts. He also holds membership in the National Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. 

Civilly, Mr. Lancaster serves on the board of directors of the First Tee of South Los Angeles, and the board of directors for Los Angeles Southwest College Foundations. Mr. Lancaster is a member of the Section 1983 Pro Bono Panel Attorney for the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, the Pro Bono Panel Attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and is a mediator for the Los Angeles Superior Court, San Fernando Valley Courthouse. In 2013 the United States District Court, Eastern District of California recognized Mr. Lancaster with the Joe Ramsey Service Award for rendering excellent pro bono service in representing indigent individuals in civil rights cases against the state of California and continues to render pro bono service in the interest of justice. Mr. Lancaster can be reached at dlancaster@thelancasterlawgroup.com