Dispute Resolution Roundtables

Oct. 21, 2025
12 - 1:30 p.m.

Topic: Revenge & Forgiveness in Mediation

Conversation Starter:

Matt Mennes serves as the mediator for Ohio’s Ninth District Court of Appeals, where he mediates civil appeals originating from four Ohio counties. Previously, Mennes served as a civil mediator for common pleas courts in Cuyahoga County and Lake County. As a court mediator, Mennes has helped resolve over 1,000 civil disputes. A frequent speaker on dispute resolution, he has presented to local bar associations, the American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, and the Supreme Court of Ohio. Mennes served as the ADR section chair for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (CMBA) and is a past president of the Cleveland Mediation Center (CMC) and the Mediation Association of Northeast Ohio (MANO). Before moving back to Ohio, Mennes was a director of arbitration for the New York Stock Exchange in its San Francisco office. He holds a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Who Should Attend:
All Ohio court-connected appellate mediators and individuals managing appellate court mediation services.

Description:
Appellate mediator roundtables are an opportunity for appellate mediators to come together to discuss and share information and updates relating to changes in the laws, prevailing issues and concerns, practice tips, innovative practices, and topics of interest among a network of mediators across the state.

Tuition:
This roundtable is tuition-free.

Oct. 14, 2025
12 - 1:30 p.m.

Topic: TBD

Conversation Starter:

Richard L. Altman (Dick) is currently a mediator and neutral evaluator in private practice. He was a magistrate for Fulton and Henry counties for 17 years until he retired in 2021. In 1998, Altman became the first Mediation Coordinator of what is now called Northwest Ohio Court Mediation Services. This program was the first multi-county mediation program in Ohio and quickly became a model for other counties. During his time as the mediation coordinator, he conducted over 2800 mediation sessions in civil, domestic, juvenile, and probate matters.

Altman earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Toledo. Following law school, he worked as a private practice attorney and later a prosecutor. He served on the Board of Governors of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts from 2004 through 2017, serving as president in 2014-2015. Additionally, he served on the Ohio Supreme Court’s Dispute Resolution Commission from its inception through 2021, serving as Chair from 2017 through 2020. He is a frequent presenter for the Supreme Court of Ohio and various organizations on topics relating to mediation, neutral evaluation, domestic violence and parenting coordination.

Who Should Attend:
Ohio civil mediators and managers of civil court mediation programs.

Description:
Civil Mediator roundtables are an opportunity for civil mediators and managers of civil court mediation programs to come together virtually to discuss and share information and updates relating to changes in the laws, prevailing issues and concerns, practice tips, innovative practices, and topics of interest among a network of mediators and program managers across the state.

Tuition:
All roundtables are tuition-free.

Registration

Sept. 30, 2025
12 - 1:30 p.m.

Topic: Using Technology to Improve Participation and Outcomes in Eviction Mediation

Conversation Starters:

Robert Southers has served as the Managing Attorney for the Franklin County Municipal Court Self Help Resource Center since August of 2017. Recently, Southers has undertaken a merger of the Self-Help Resource Center with the Court’s dispute resolution department. Along with his role directing the Court’s self-help center, dispute resolution department, and access to justice programs, Southers also serves as a co-chair for the Self-Represented Litigation Network’s Nonlawyer Navigator Working group. In both of these roles, he has helped courts around the country launch new self-help centers and navigator programs. In addition to his work with courts, Southers also serves as an adjunct professor for the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Program on Dispute Resolution.

Mindy Yocum is the Staff Attorney for the JusticeTech program at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where she collaborates with law and computer science students to develop tech solutions aimed at improving access to justice. She is also the founder of Yocum Law and the JusticeMobile, a nonprofit mobile legal advice clinic providing accessible legal resources across Ohio. Yocum is an American Bar Foundation Fellow, an Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellow, a Future 50 CEO, and an ABA Legal Rebel.

Who Should Attend:
Ohio eviction mediators who mediate in person, virtually or on-line and managers of court eviction mediation programs.

Description:
Mediator roundtables are an opportunity for eviction mediators and managers of court eviction mediation programs to come together virtually to discuss and share information and updates relating to changes in the laws, prevailing issues and concerns, practice tips, innovative practices, and topics of interest among a network of mediators and program managers across the state.

Tuition:
All roundtables are tuition-free.

Registration

Oct. 7, 2025
12 - 1:30 p.m.

Topic: Safety First: New Guidelines for Physically Safe Conflict Resolution

Conversation Starter:

Stephen Kotev, with almost 30 years of experience, and based in Washington, D.C., works as a conflict resolution consultant offering coaching, mediation, ombuds, and facilitation services, training and embodiment education to private and government clients. He has extensive experience resolving workplace disputes ranging from team interventions to pre-complaint/pre-litigation mediation. He holds a masters degree from George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and certificates in leadership coaching and conflict coaching from Georgetown University and Dr. Tricia Jones of Conflict Coaching Matters LLC. Kotev is the chair of the ACR Taskforce on Safety in ADR. 

Kotev specializes in training conflict resolvers on how to maintain their calm in high-conflict situations and for over a decade has taught courses on this topic as an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University. His practical, engaging and highly interactive teaching style is informed by his study of Aikido, Embodied Peacemaking, Men’s Work, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Somatic Abolitionism and mytho-somatic explorations. He has conducted trainings for international and national audiences from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Germany, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Canada, and across the continental United States.

Who Should Attend:
Ohio mediators who have some or extensive experience mediating cases.

Description:
Mediator roundtables are an opportunity for experienced mediators to come together virtually to discuss and share information and updates relating to changes in the laws, prevailing issues and concerns, practice tips, innovative practices, and topics of interest among a network of experienced mediators across the state.

Tuition:
All roundtables are tuition-free.

Registration

Nov. 20, 2025
12 - 1:30 p.m.

Topic: Are You Taking Care of Yourself? Self-Care for Conflict Resolvers

Conversation Starter:

John Fischer is a peacemaker, mediator and mediation trainer. He currently has a private mediation practice concentrating in family and elder mediation. He previously was a contract mediator for the Franklin County Court Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court where he mediated over 1000 cases. He is a licensed Ohio attorney and holds a law degree from UCLA School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism degree from Ohio University.

Who Should Attend:
Ohio civil mediators and managers of civil court mediation programs.

Description:
Mediator roundtables are an opportunity for civil mediators and managers of civil court mediation programs to come together virtually to discuss and share information and updates relating to changes in the laws, prevailing issues and concerns, practice tips, innovative practices, and topics of interest among a network of mediators and program managers across the state.

Tuition:
All roundtables are tuition-free.

Registration

Sept. 23, 2025
12 to 1:30 p.m.

Topic: The Process of Decision making

Conversation Starter:

Peta Kerr holds a bachelor's degree in child psychology and has completed postgraduate work in Intensive Behavior Intervention and Attachment and Trauma-Focused Therapy. Born and raised in Canada, Kerr's education and early professional career took place in Canada, where she worked as a Behavior Consultant within educational and clinical settings. Upon moving to Ohio, Kerr began working as an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant. She became licensed with the Ohio Chemical Dependency Board and certified as an Ohio Infant Family Practitioner.

Kerr is a national trainer for the PAXIS Institute, training parents, caregivers, and professionals with a trauma-informed, positive behavior management approach. As she continued to work with families, she developed a desire to learn about conflict resolution, focusing her training to further qualify as a Family and Divorce Mediator, Parent Coordinator, and Parent and Co-parent Coach. 

In 2019, Kerr founded Passcode to Parenting, a private practice offering Parent and Co-parent Coaching, Parent Coordination, GAL services, Supervised Visitation, Reunification Intervention, Behavioral Interventions, Attachment Assessments, and other therapeutic services. Passcode to Parenting contracts with multiple local child welfare agencies, school boards, juvenile courts, and other agencies. Currently, Passcode to Parenting provides services within Geauga, Lake, Cuyahoga, and Summit Courts. Kerr continues to expand her skill set, focusing on trauma-informed practices that address mental health, substance abuse, physical, and emotional abuse within family systems. She supports families in repairing, rebuilding, and reconnecting.

Who Should Attend:
Parenting coordinators who receive referrals from Ohio courts and managers of court parenting coordination programs.

Description:
Parenting coordinator roundtables are an opportunity for new and seasoned parenting coordinators and mangers of court parenting coordination programs to come together virtually to network, share information about updates and changes in the laws, discuss prevailing issues and concerns, practice tips, and topics of interest among a network of parenting coordinators and program managers across the state.

Dec. 3, 2025
12 to 1:30 p.m.

Topic: Differentiating Alienation from Estrangement

Conversation Starter:

Jennifer R. Szeghi, MA, Successful Parenting, Cincinnati, Ohio. Jennifer Szeghi is a Parenting Coordinator and a Parent-Child Coach who enjoys working with high conflict families and reunification cases. Through her experience working with children and adolescents in the court system, inpatient psychiatric unit, juvenile detention, and outpatient mental health setting, she identified the necessity of parents having the skills needed to promote healthy development in children; leading her to found Successful Parenting. Szeghi also has a passion for educating others evidenced by teaching psychology classes at Cincinnati State College for 15 years, providing professional trainings, and educating rejected parents via her podcast The Alienator's Chess Game. Whether it is through direct services or teaching other professionals her mission is to take families from parent stress to child success.

Who Should Attend:
Parenting coordinators who receive referrals from Ohio courts and managers of court parenting coordination programs.

Description:
Parenting coordinator roundtables are an opportunity for new and seasoned parenting coordinators and mangers of court parenting coordination programs to come together virtually to network, share information about updates and changes in the laws, discuss prevailing issues and concerns, practice tips, and topics of interest among a network of parenting coordinators and program managers across the state.

Registration