Mediation

Mediation is a process where parties work with a neutral individual to resolve a dispute. The parties decide how they want to resolve a dispute, the mediator does not. Notes of the Mediator are confidential. The process is private.

Ms. Smith acts as a mediator on Zoom or in an informal comfortable setting in her office located at 134 Main Street in Watertown, Massachusetts.  At this time, most mediations are by Zoom for the safety and convenience of mediation clients. She will participate in co-mediation, if requested. Cost for mediation services by Attorney Smith is generally split between the parties.

Attorney Smith received arbitration and mediation training through the American Arbitration Association in 1989. She obtained additional 32 hours of Basic Training in 1994 and also took Advanced Divorce Mediation in 1997. She attends trainings in mediation maintain her skills.

Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, Inc.

Ms. Smith was a Director on the Board of Directors for Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, Inc. from June 2002 to June 2010. While a Director, Ms. Smith was the Treasurer from June 2004 to June 2005 and the Program Chair from May 2005 to June 2006. On October 21, 2005 and October 20, 2006, she was the Chair of the Institute, a day long education conference that was held at the Wellesley Community Center in Wellesley Massachusetts.

On September 14, 2022, Attorney Smith was the moderator and presenter at the Professional Development Workshop for Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, Inc.  on
“How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Divorce: History and Emergent Issues in Law and Mediation” with April White, author of The Divorce Colony: How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier.

On November 15, 2017, Attorney Smith spoke at a Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation Professional Development Meeting on a panel on “Mediating Premarital Agreements: “I Do” or “I Don’t.””

On April 1, 2014, Ms. Smith spoke on a panel about Unmarried Parents in Mediation matters at a Member’s Meeting for Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

For more information about Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, Inc., please visit www.mcfm.org.

Ms. Smith has written articles for the Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, Inc.’s Family Mediation Quarterly.

Some of her articles include:

-In the fall of 2014, Ms. Smith wrote “A Consumers Guide to Mediation and Collaborative Law in Cases Involving Unmarried Parents,” Fall 2014 edition.  See http://www.mcfm.org/sites/default/files/fmq_pdfs/fall2014.pdf at Page 23.

– “Going Green: MCFM Endorses the Eco Challenge Pledge,” Fall 2008 edition;
See http://www.mcfm.org/sites/default/files/fmq_pdfs/fall08.pdf
at Page 21;

-“Mediating Parent/Child Disputes, The Benefits of Avoiding a “CHINS” Case,”  Co-written with Lynn K. Cooper, Ed.D. and Attorney Smith,  Spring 2006 edition. See http://www.mcfm.org/sites/default/files/fmq_pdfs/spring06.pdf at Page 29;

-“Lessons for Mediators from Malcolm Gladwell’s”Blink” Summer 2005 See http://www.mcfm.org/sites/default/files/fmq_pdfs/summer05.pdf at Page 19; and

-“M.C.F.M.’s History, Interviews with Three Founders”,  Fall 2002
See http://www.mcfm.org/sites/default/files/fmq_pdfs/fall02.pdf
at Page 17;

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