Live Webcast via Zoom
(A link to the Zoom classroom will be emailed to registrants.)
Each Wednesday from September 4, 2024 – December 4, 2024
3:00 – 6:15 p.m. each session
(Please Note: The last two sessions in this 13-part series will add an additional 30 minutes.)

 

40 hours MCLE credit, including 40* hours Professional Responsibility MCLE credit in the following category: Professionalism, Civility, or Legal Ethics MCLE credit

 

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Each session will be held weekly on Wednesday from 3:00 – 6:15 p.m. Attendance to all sessions are required to earn the complete 40 hours of CLE credit. Breaks for holiday consideration has been included.

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Mediation is designed to resolve differences both in and out of the courts. It requires a very different mindset than courtroom litigation. This Master Series program trains practitioners to resolve conflicts in a non-adversarial, non-confrontational manner, allowing peaceful resolutions between parties.

The program is taught by Case Ellis, Missy Greathouse, and Jerald Kessler – nationally recognized mediators, authors, educators, and full-time alternative dispute resolution practitioners.

Mr. Ellis has been a co-instructor of 40 hour training courses for mediators outside the USA with the head of International Training for ADR, one of the UK’s largest ADR providers. He has taught a graduate course in Conflict Resolution at North Central College in Naperville, IL, and lectured at numerous seminars in the U.S. on various litigation and ADR matters. He has trained mediators in London, UK, Dublin, Ireland, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Thessaloniki Greece, as well as throughout the Midwestern U.S., and lectured law students on mediation in the Italian cities of Milan, Turin, Modena, Florence, and Rome. He is a frequent lecturer and author of articles regarding ADR and Juries.

Ms. Greathouse serves as the Executive Director of Dispute Resolution Institute, Inc. and has played an integral role in the development, implementation, and administration of all mediation programs provided by DRI. She is very active in various organizations that focus on mediation and other alternative dispute resolution methods. Additionally, she serves on ISBA’s Steering Committee on Racial Inequality and teaches Mediation Skills and Alternative Dispute Resolution at Southern Illinois University School of Law.

Mr. Kessler has conducted over 2,500 mediation cases in the last 32 years. He provides advanced mediation trainings, a monthly case consultation group for other mediators, an internship for new mediators, and has presented at numerous local, state, and national mediation conferences. Mr. Kessler is an Advanced Practitioner Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution, a founding member and Advanced Practitioner Member of the Academy of Professional Family Mediators, founding treasurer of the Illinois Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, and is a past President of the Mediation Council of Illinois. Mr. Kessler was the Mediation Council of Illinois’ delegate to the national consortium which drafted the Model Standards of Divorce Mediation Practice adopted by the ABA, AFCC and ACR.

Program Speakers:
H. Case Ellis, Law Office of H. Case Ellis, Cary
Missy Greathouse, Dispute Resolution Institute, Inc., Glen Carbon
Jerald A. Kessler, Professional Mediation, Libertyville

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This course is now a Cook County Court-Approved Mediation Training Program to become a Law Division and/or Chancery Division Court-Annexed Mediator**

 

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Past Attendee Comments:

I would give all of the presenters the highest rating. Their experience was shared so freely to give us the greatest possible knowledge and tools for our own practice. Attendee, Fall 2022

Best CLE class I have ever taken. Loved the instructors and the material. Attendee, Spring 2022

Very practical, in-depth, how-to for mediations. Learning the techniques will enable me to better explain the process to my clients, but also to carefully consider why settlement through mediation is the best result. Attendee, Fall 2021

Excellent program for learning mediation. Paul Storment, Spring 2021

This was one of the best courses I have ever taken. I looked forward to every Wednesday of the class and was sorry when it was over. Marsha L. Combs-Skinner, Fall 2020

The instructors were excellent in keeping the class’s attention and making the materials enjoyable and interesting to learn. Attendee, Fall 2020

This course should be mandatory for any litigator. It would solve so many disputes and save time and money. Benjamin Lawson, Fall 2019

 

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Program Schedule:

Session 1, September 4, 2024
After class and instructor introductions, the opening session of this program offers an introductory look at the history of mediation, why moving from the courtroom to the conference table is important, the reasons mediation is successful, and the common questions asked about mediation.

Session 2, September 11, 2024
Learn how to prepare mediator opening remarks as our instructors demonstrate how the opening remarks of a mediator should silence the storm, build rapport, and create a nonjudgmental environment. If time permits, students will be given an opportunity to practice mediator openings.

Session 3, September 18, 2024
This session is reserved for students to practice their mediator opening remarks, followed by critiques from the instructors. When done with practice, we will begin discussing “caucusing.”
This session examines caucus mediation – from how to prepare and how to create your opening remarks, to the goal of the first caucus.

Session 4, September 25, 2024
Students will do an initial simulation of the opening session including mediator’s opening, parties opening, and caucus.

Session 5, October 2, 2024
Initial simulations will continue.
Discover the various formats for mediation as well as the role of the mediator in each.

Session 6, October 9, 2024
The program continues with a look at the preliminary considerations to mediation, including the financial viability of the defendant, the costs incurred by each party, the results of counsel’s last trial, the stress levels of each party, and more.

Session 7, October 16, 2024
Explore miscellaneous topics including: case on motion for summary judgment, case on appeal, the unpredictability of jurors, the stress of trial proceedings, solvency of the defendant, polygraph tests, and then we’ll talk about starting/growing a mediation or arbitration practice.

Session 8, October 23, 2024
This week we explore conference mediation and techniques and begin simulations adding conferencing.

Session 9, October 30, 2024
Continued simulations.

Session 10, November 6, 2024
This afternoon we'll talk about arbitration as well as discussing online dispute resolution options, their success rate, and how prevalent virtual mediation may become in the future. Gain a better understanding of the advanced peacemaker techniques you need to know in order to be a successful mediator, including how to be diligent and responsible; how to build rapport and trust; how to be patient, positive, and in control; how to maintain impartiality; and much more.

Session 11, November 13, 2024
As the program winds down, each student will put the skills and knowledge they’ve learn to use by mediating a mock case.

Session 12, November 20, 2024 (Please note the adjusted time on this session: 3:00-6:45 p.m.)
Student Mediation Continued

Session 13, December 4, 2024 (Please note the adjusted time on this session: 3:00-6:45 p.m.)
Student Mediation Continued

*Professional Responsibility MCLE credit subject to approval
**Upon completion of the course, you may visit www.cookcountycourt.org/FORATTORNEYSLITIGANTS.aspxfor application details to be certified in the Law Division and/or the Chancery Division of the Cook County court.

 

 

 

Pricing Information

Fees:

 

 

• ISBA Member - $1,350
• Non-Member - $1,750

Cancellation Policy:
A full refund for the CLE registration is available up to 14 days prior to the program; however, the course book is non-refundable once the book has been mailed out to attendees 14 days prior to the program start date.

Live Webcast
Tuesday, September 10, 2024 – Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Each Tuesday: 5:15 – 6:45 p.m.

27.0 hours MCLE credit, including 27.0* hours Professional Responsibility in the following category: Professionalism, Civility, or Legal Ethics credit

Improve your trial skills in this “learn-by-doing” program that covers all phases of trial work from both a plaintiff/prosecutor and defendant’s viewpoint, in both civil and criminal cases. Through this course, you will learn and practice new trial techniques that are most effective and consistent with the Illinois Rules of Evidence and the Federal Rules of Evidence. Each session is audio-video taped so you can see and hear the improvements in your voice, manner, and trial technique. The course has been proven to be of value whether your practice includes trying jury and non-jury cases, administrative hearings, arbitrations, or even mediations.

Fred Lane’s Trial Technique Institute consists of two semesters and runs approximately four months per semester. We are offering the Fall 2024 Semester as a stand-alone option via Zoom to make it available to all Illinois attorneys. Classes take place each Tuesday evening from 5:15 – 6:45 p.m. Breaks for holiday consideration do exist.

 

• Fall Semester: September – January
• Spring Semester: February – June

 

Fall Semester topics include:

 

 

 

• An overview of the principles of communication, argument and persuasion on behalf of the plaintiff/prosecutor and defendant.
• Jury Selection
• Making winning Opening Statements/Closing Arguments to the jury in various type of cases, such as:
  • Personal Injury Case (Motor vehicle malpractice, product liability, attractive nuisance, federal employers’ liability, wrongful death, suits against municipalities, dram shops, airline cases, etc.)
  • Contract Cases (Goods, wares and merchandise, breach of contract, real estate broker’s commission, and life insurance)
  • Special Actions (Will contests, assault and battery, slander, malicious prosecution, false arrest and imprisonment)

About the Speakers:
Scott Lane is a partner of the firm of Lane Brown, LLC, a plaintiff’s personal injury firm in Chicago, Prior to his present practice, Scott was a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney for several years. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Loyola University of Chicago of Law where he is a founding member of Loyola’s Circle of Advocates and has coached their Trial Team. Scott frequently lectures at bar association seminars and has authored numerous articles, chapters, and texts pertaining to various aspects of civil litigation and trial technique. He is a contributing author and editor to “Lane’s Goldstein Trial Technique” and “Lane Medical Litigation Guide” and co-authored the book, “Illinois Motions in Limine”. Scott has been consistently selected as an “Illinois Super Lawyer” as published by the Law & Politics and Chicago Magazine, and in 2014 he became a member of The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100.

Fred Lane , the original founder of this course, will serve as an occasional guest instructor. Mr. Lane is a former Assistant State’s Attorney and has had over 40 years of litigation experience. Mr. Lane is a lecturer and author on Trial Technique Subject: author of Lane’s Goldstein Trial Technique (3 vols.): editor of Medical Trial Technique Quarterly : author of Lane Medical Litigation Guide (4 vols.): author of Lane’s Goldstein Litigation Forms (3 vol.). He is the co-author of Lane & Calkins Mediation Practice Guid e and co-founder of the International Academy of Dispute Resolution. Mr. Lane is also past president of the following organizations and associations: Illinois Trial Lawyers Association: Diplomat and Past President of the American Board of Trial Advocates IL; Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Past President of the Illinois State Bar Association: and Past President of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers.

*Professional Responsibility MCLE credit subject to approval