Colleen Byers Mediation, LLC

Who says that ethics CLE can't be fun?!

I enjoyed sharing well-being tips and strategies with some 200 lawyers and watching Jay Reeves moderate in an awesome Santa hat!

If you missed it, we covered:

💠 digital detoxing
💠 starfish breathing
💠 rainbow breathing
💠 grounding exercises

and geeked out about understanding how and why our analytical lawyer brains work the way they do. 🧠

Need a speaker for 2024? Message me!

Don’t sell yourself short.

If you can negotiate with a toddler, then you can negotiate with anyone.

You already have experience regulating your own emotions while being battered around by the other person’s volatility and irrationality.

You already have experience getting curious about what the heck is really going on here, underneath the turmoil at the surface.

You already have experience thinking outside the box to find creative solutions, especially if you ask them for their ideas.

I believe that most people are far better negotiators than they give themselves credit for,

but if you want a little extra support for your next important conversation, then reach out to me.

I offer 1:1 negotiation coaching that will help you get better results while building stronger relationships.

An unanticipated benefit of mediator training was becoming a more effective advocate for my litigation clients before, during, and after mediation.

It's one thing to understand the role and benefit of a mediator on an intellectual level.

It's a whole other thing to take a deep dive into the role of a mediator on an experiential level.

Want to learn more? Message me. I love talking about mediation and effective advocacy in mediation.

Ready to join me and my co-trainers for Ellen Gelbin's online, 40-Hour, North Carolina Superior Court Mediation Training in October?

Check the comments ⬇ to register.

📑 I watch my 5-year-old work hard, each night, sounding out words to improve her reading.

🏊‍♀️ I watch my 8-year-old practice her swim stroke each day in the pool.

🏅 I’m proud to model diligence & resilience for them & even more elated to share with them (& you) the joy of achieving a big professional goal.

✔ After 125 hours of coursework
+
✔ 100+ hours of coaching clients
+
✔ A challenging, 3 hour written exam ...

This summer, I officially became an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

As a litigator, I used to think that mediators had an easy job.

Then I completed over 65 hours of mediation training + 2 observations.

Then I started mediating.

Then I learned how to hold all the different legal as well as non-legal interests in all the different rooms at the same time.

Then I learned how to navigate all the different legal as well as non-legal personalities in all the different rooms at the same time.

Then I learned how to advocate for a resolution while also ensuring the autonomy of the parties.

Then I learned to have the NC Dispute Resolution Commission on speed dial for all the unexpected curveballs before, during, and after mediation.

If you want to learn all this and more, then join me and Ellen Gelbin in an online, 40-Hour Superior Court Mediation Training in October.

Check the comments ⬇ to register.

You are not broken. You are human.

You are not alone. There are individuals and organizations ready, willing, and able to support you.

When I spoke at the Middle District of North Carolina Bankruptcy Seminar in Pinehurst this weekend, I touched on these important points:

✨ the national research on the state of lawyer well-being;

✨ the neuroscience of how and why our brilliant legal brains are trying to keep us safe and how to work WITH neurobiology rather than just at the effect of it; and

✨ 4 practical tools to immediately implement to improve well-being:

⚒ Designated device-free times and areas;

⚒ Emergency landing exercise;

⚒ Gratitude practice; and

⚒ Mindfulness practice.

What other tips or tools do you use to improve your well-being?

🕰 Time is such a limited resource that anytime someone shares theirs with me, I am touched by their generosity.

🕰 It took time for 2 busy litigators at different law firms to each nominate me (unbeknownst to me) to the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

🕰 It took time for 8 different attorneys for whom I’ve mediated in the last 3 months to serve as references.

None of these 10 attorneys had to spend their precious time supporting my nomination to the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals but each did.

Now I am privileged to join a prestigious group of some of the most well-regarded mediators in the U.S. to continue our work of building bridges and facilitating resolutions to even the most seemingly intractable conflicts.

Colleen Byers, JD, MBA Admitted to National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Winston-Salem, North Carolina Mediator Colleen Byers has been admitted to the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. Top mediator in Winston-Salem for corporate and family dispute resolution.

Gratefully celebrating 1 year in business (a few months late).

Enjoyed sharing the strategies and techniques I use to facilitate difficult conversations with members of the Orange County Bar Association.

What is one strategy you find most useful when engaging in difficult conversations?