The law firm of Christian & Small LLP, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, announces that Kenneth O. Simon, Esq., a Partner in the Firm, has been given the honor and opportunity to hold a webcast for the National Judicial College (NJC).The informative webcast entitled Dispute Resolution Skills: Top Ten Ways to Achieve Settlement provides participants with an inside view on the 10 most effective ways to overcome barriers to settlement. The webcast goes into detail about the different types of mediations, what makes them fail and what makes them succeed.
“Mediations work because both parties want them to work,” Simon said. “Being prepared and approaching mediation with the right frame of mind is extremely important.”
According to Simon, ways to overcome barriers to settlement include being creative, narrowing the negotiating range, encouraging bold steps, or baby steps if needed, being brutally honest, listening to the parties, suggesting specific settlement amounts, scheduling another session, emphasizing the advantages of settling, and getting derailed mediations back on track.
The NJC is the leader in judicial education and is the first to offer programs to judges nationwide. The NJC continues to improve productivity, challenge current perceptions of justice, and inspire judges to achieve judicial excellence. The College serves as the one place where judges from across the nation and around the world can meet to improve the delivery of justice and advance the rule of law through a disciplined process of professional study and collegial dialogue.
Simon has more than 30 years’ experience as a judge and litigator. Prior to his distinguished career in Birmingham, he served as Assistant Director and Branch Chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement in Washington, D.C., supervising investigations of possible violations of the federal securities laws. He has broad experience representing public agencies and their boards, as well as private parties, in matters involving contractual disputes, litigation, employment and personnel issues, insurance, bond issuance, transactional intricacies and other areas. He counsels parties involved in corporate and governmental investigations. Simon served as a trial court judge in Jefferson County, and he has garnered the reputation of being an accomplished litigator, mediator and arbitrator, as well as a respected advisor to public agencies.
To view the webcast, please click here.
For more information about Christian & Small, please visit the International Society of Primerus Law Firms.