When I first moved home from New York City, I instantly investigated mediation training programs in Illinois. I have a mediator heart and wanted to ensure I had the requisite training to be approved on the various court rosters. However, I live in Champaign, Illinois and the closest mediation training that I could find was in Chicago. I’m a single girl without children or a spouse so I’m more free than others but I have a barnyard of animals and several employees to manage – it’s not so simple for me to spend a business week in Chicago (not to mention, expensive!).
From there, I really wanted to bring mediation training to Downstate Illinois. Missy Greathouse with the Dispute Resolution Institute, Inc. has agreed to be the mediator trainer for this upcoming 40 hour training. I know Missy through the Illinois Agriculture Mediation Program and she is a talented instructor, mediator and leader in the Alternative Dispute Resolution community.
A silver lining of the pandemic has been the use of Zoom and other video conference technology. I took an entire mediation training myself in May through mediate.com that focused on online family law mediation. I won’t lie- it is a different experience to be trained as a mediator via Zoom vs. IRL (“in real life”) but honestly, it is the way of the world right now. I have conducted several meditations via Zoom and even though Rincker Law is starting to have in-person meetings again with clients many people still prefer video-conference. I’m teaching mediation this fall at the University of Illinois via Zoom. We all have to become comfortable with this technology. The entire training will be held via Zoom.
The first 20 hours is basic civil training and the second 20 hours is family law specific. You can sign up for the first half, second half or both. What I especially love about this program is that it is NOT Monday thru Friday from 8am to 5pm. This is how I was trained initially as a mediator with the New York Peace Institute and it was challenging for me to do this at the infancy of my law practice. I was so tired at the end of the day that I barely had time to do any client work. This schedule will allow practitioners to mix the training with the rest of their law practice.
There are student discounts available too. When I taught mediation last fall at the University of Illinois, several of my students were interested in training so they could get on the court roster. I wanted to make sure this was available to students like them and I hope my mediation students for the fall at U of I are able to participate.
Registration is limited to 18 people. There are roll plays and it’s difficult to properly train more than this in a class. I similarly have a limit on the mediation class at U of I.
This training has been approved by the Sixth Circuit in Illinois and is co-sponsored by the Champaign County Bar Association’s Family Law Committee. It is open to anyone. You do not have to be a lawyer to be a mediator.
Registration closes on Tuesday so please don’t wait any longer- looking forward to having you on board!