April 2019
Greetings!
We hope you enjoy this edition of the Texas Mediator . Our goal is to provide members with the latest "news you can use" about mediation. In this issue, you will find:

  • TAM President's Message - Melissa Back McAlpine
  • 2019 Conference Report - Deanna Morrice
  • Susanne C. Adams Award - Linda Gibson
  • Message from the Honoree - Dr. Barbara Sunderland Manousso
  • Thank you to Outgoing Board Members
  • New Board Members
  • Notes from the President-Elect - Kimberly Sullivan
  • Members on the Move
  • Legislative Update - Diane Harvey
  • 2019 TAM Conference Photos
  • 2019 TAM Conference Sponsors
  • Mediation Events and Happenings



Melissa's Messages

A Note From the President

Thank you for the honor of serving as the new President for the Texas Association of Mediators! It is a privilege to come in as the youngest TAM president to date. Many years ago, my first TAM Conference left a lasting impression. I was very excited to join this professional group of mediators, and could only dream of this distinct honor. Like many of you, my enthusiasm for TAM’s success and our mediation community has continued over the years. I was delighted to recently see our TAM family, all of your familiar faces and new faces, a few weeks ago at our annual conference.

A very heartfelt thank you to Diane Harvey for her leadership over the past year. Thank you Diane for your dedication, passion, and service to TAM for a number of years, as President, Conference Co-Chair, and a two-time board member! We appreciate your guidance in gracefully helping our organization move forward into the future. A special thank you to Mary and Angela for giving so much of their spirit and heart to planning our 2019 conference in Dallas. Thank you to all of our outgoing and current board members, who worked hard in the planning process as well. Thank you to Doug Wilson, for capturing fabulous photos to remember our special time together. Also, much gratitude to our out-going board members, Kathy, Jim, Denise, and immediate past-president Lori LaConta, who have all made meaningful contributions to TAM during their terms. We appreciate you! We are blessed to have outstanding new board members and President-Elect Kim Sullivan, so thank you for joining us!

We have one of the most diverse new TAM boards – diversity of backgrounds, race, geographic locations, ethnicities, and age, etc. It is significant to see representation of so many facets of our mediation community. A number of years ago, I was part of the millennial mentor project established by the board in hopes of bringing younger mediators to TAM. The hope was to encourage young mediators to help carry the baton in the future. Many members expressed appreciation for finally having more young faces represented at our recent conference, signaling that we accomplished that goal set years ago. At the same time, it is equally important to keep our traditions, and ensure that best practices are continued and handed down from seasoned mediators to the next generation of young, as well as, new mediators.

Like many of you, family and community comes first. Each year, I cannot wait to come home to our TAM family. I love to be reunited with our fellow mediators and colleagues. We come together not only to learn from top-notch speakers and to gather new tools, but also to build connections and secure a network of meaningful (mediation) friendships. In addition, TAM provides outreach and education, our professional newsletter, legislative updates, and so much more. We are currently watching new legislation that could impact mediation in Texas. More than anything, we encompass a united family of mediators, and form an extraordinary community with a deep desire to help others. Let's keep up the good work!

I hope you enjoy this edition of the newsletter. You can reminisce about this year’s conference by following the “Texas Association of Mediators” on Facebook and looking for hashtag #TAMConference2019 on social media. We are hard at work planning next year’s TAM Conference 2020 in Austin. Let me know if I can do anything to make your TAM experience even better.
2019 Conference Report
By Deanna Morrice
The Texas Association of Mediators Professional Development Conference in Dallas attracted more than 200 participants from across the state. Former TAM president Walter Wright opened the conference with the latest information from the Professional Ethics Committee of the State Bar of Texas regarding the ethics of drawing up a mediated settlement agreement (MSA). Walter discussed Opinion 675 which allows attorney mediators to draft MSAs. Following his presentation, Walter engaged the audience in a lively question and answer period concerning creative ways to advocate for similar guidelines for mediators from other professional disciplines.  Professor Wright stressed that the mediation profession benefits when all mediators, both those with law degrees and those from other professional backgrounds, have a clear understanding of what it means to “stay in their lane” ethically.

On the second day of the conference, Adam McGough, former TAM board member and current Dallas City Council Member exhorted mediators to get involved in politics as he related ways that his “mediator mindset” informs his ability to bring divergent community voices to an understanding of their common political interests. 

An array of workshops during both days of the meeting addressed conflict resolution topics such as mediation in a virtual world, cultural diversity and LGBT issues in mediation, mediating within complex family structures, avoiding financial errors in mediated divorce settlements, and ways in which brain chemistry applies to the mediation process. Melissa Back McAlpine, the 2019 TAM president, along with Linda Gibson, the TAM board member serving as Historian, and newly elected TAM board member Darcy Thompson presented the Susanne C. Adams award to Dr. Barbara Sunderland Manousso.

Special thanks go out to Angela Mitakidis and Mary Adams-Moe, the 2019 TAM Conference co-chairs. Their tireless efforts were evident in every detail of the conference. Finally, thank you to the generous sponsors whose support made this professional development conference possible. We could not do it without you.

Susanne C. Adams Award
By Linda Gibson
The 26th recipient of the Susanne C. Adams Award is Dr. Barbara Sunderland Manousso, a TMCA Credentialed Distinguished Mediator. The Adams Award was created in 1997 to recognize exceptional and outstanding efforts in promoting and furthering the use of mediation in Texas and to honor its first recipient, Susanne C. Adams.
 
Susanne Adams firmly believed that mediation is far superior to litigation, and fiercely held to her principles concerning mediation and its role in our litigious society. Through her efforts in the 1980s and early 1990s she helped define the role of mediator as peacemaker and facilitator. She was a pioneer in the Texas mediation movement and a founding member of the Texas Association of Family Mediators, which eventually became the Texas Association of Mediators. As Z. Locke Lewis said in 2005, “[Susanne’s] work in promoting and furthering the use of mediation in Texas has been memorialized in this award, so that others who share her commitment can also be recognized and honored for their contributions to the field of mediation. She was a leader who brought inspiration, commitment, service, and sacrifice, to what was, and still is, a growing profession.”
 
Like Susanne Adams, the 2019 Adams Award recipient, Dr. Barbara Manousso, is a leader in the field of mediation with many loyal followers. The many letters of recommendation for Barbara that the Adams Award Committee received reveal that she “has established a diverse network of conflict resolution professionals” and that she “consistently demonstrates her belief, and encourages others to join, in the growth and practice of mediation in Texas and around the globe.” Barbara “demonstrates an unwavering commitment to the field of mediation” and “is reliable with her generosity, time, and effort to promote and advance mediation throughout Texas.”
 
Barbara’s student and colleague Melissa Back McAlpine reported Barbara was a “central member of the committee with Texas Mediation Trainers Roundtable to create the curriculum for all 40 Hour Basic Mediation trainings across the state. … More recently, Barbara was the Chair of Education, Research, and Training of the Association for Conflict Resolution International, where she coordinated training materials and requirements, [and] researched and prescribed the proper role of the mediator with regard to the Mediated Settlement Agreement.” Melissa added “the entire mediation community of Texas is blessed to have such a strong advocate, promoter, teacher, and believer in the power of mediation and conflict resolution.”
 
Fran Brochstein noted in her recommendation for Barbara that “she has lectured and provided trainings on mediation all over the U.S. as well as internationally. She has served on many ADR boards – locally in Houston, statewide in Texas, and internationally. She has an active mediation training program in Houston offering basic, family, and elder mediation training and arbitration training. … She is an adjunct professor at the University of St Thomas teaching global mediation skills,” and she was “one of the 10 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients in 2018 [from the] Association for Conflict Resolution – Houston Chapter.”
 
Barbara Sunderland Manousso has touched the lives of many ADR professionals in Texas and throughout the world. Her enthusiasm for and dedication to the world of alternative dispute resolution is known throughout the State. TAM is honored to present her with the 2019 Susanne C. Adams Award.



Linda Gibson is an attorney-mediator in Temple, Texas. She has been a member of TAM for 26 years and has been a board member for 21 of those years, serving as TAM President in 2004. Linda is the 2015 recipient of the Susanne C. Adams Award. She currently serves as TAM’s Historian.




A Message from the Honoree
Dr. Barbara Sunderland Manousso, Ph.D., M.P.H.

I was really quite honored to be recognized for the Suzanne Adams Award. When Darcy Thompson and Melissa Back McAlpine started talking on the Texas Association of Mediators (TAM) stage during the presentations, it wasn’t until I saw my pictures that I realized it was about me. Darcy and Melissa introduced me in a wonderful, personal, thoughtful, and visual way. As I later learned, there were many who participated in the preparation of this presentation, including Fran Brochstein, Sheryl Matthews, and Lori LaConta. My warmest gratitude and thanks to everyone. In addition, I was especially tickled to learn that Melissa had even hacked my computer for photos when I was conducting a training!

My heartfelt thanks to the thirty plus TAM members who nominated me this year. For once in my life, I was speechless and totally unprepared with an acceptance speech.

Now that I can reflect, these are my thoughts. For over twenty-five years, the Susanne Adams Award was given in recognition of one of our first Texas non-attorney mediators. However, because she was sued by disgruntled clients for writing their Mediated Settlement Agreement (MSA), and died before the trial of her unauthorized practice of law, this award was established on a negative note, which always seemed odd to me. For over twenty years, this story of her practice was repeatedly told as a warning for “non-attorney” mediators to stay out of the field or proceed cautiously, frightening wonderful mediators from career opportunities. Fortunately, this year, Adams was introduced, justly so, as a pioneer mediator and was purely applauded as one of Texas’ first mediators, a reasonable honor and recognition.

On an instructive note, it was long overdue to have an opinion from the state agencies on the expected and legal scope of the role of a mediator. Thanks to the diligence of TAM’s Walter Wright, Adam’s unresolved case is finally resolved. The state bar ethics committee’s official opinion last year affirmed as a natural part of the mediation process in Texas, as has long been held as part of the mediator’s role worldwide, that the mediator’s role as scribe is not the practice of law. There is no longer a shadow of fear that if a mediator scribes the agreement, especially without legalese, that it is not the practice of law. Actually, even an attorney who mediates can’t write an agreement with legal interpretation or act with any procedural nuance, either. Attorney and mediator are two separate roles, not to be combined.

This professional organization, the Texas Association of Mediators, with youthful energy on the board and in leadership, should never lose sight of who we are and our valued mission as mediators. My final words of wisdom to the profession are to keep mediation pure and productive, as the process is intended in conference style for maximum communication. As the mediator, hold control of the table and don’t let anything compromise your impartiality and neutrality. Use your constantly honed skills to encourage open and cooperative communication. Seek career opportunities for payment. Volunteering is generous and helpful to society, but you should not be hesitant to earn a living.

Again, thank you for giving me this valued recognition. It belongs to every mediator; I am just the guardian of this honor for this year.
Thank You To Outgoing Board Members

All of TAM would like to express our gratitude to the following members of the Board who are stepping down this year. Thank you to Lori La Conta, Kathy Perez, Jim Guinn, and Denise French. Your efforts to promote mediation in Texas are greatly, greatly appreciated.


Welcome New Board Members
Melissa Back McAlpine, President
Melissa is a true advocate of mediation and is the President/Owner of Back to Yes Mediation, LLC.  Since the beginning of her career, Melissa has followed her passion and practices as a mediator, ADR Trainer and lecturer at Manousso Mediation & Arbitration, Adjunct Professor at the University of St. Thomas, and arbitrator. She is also a licensed attorney. Melissa is a long-time Texas Credentialed Distinguished Mediator, who has mediated hundreds of cases in all disciplines. Melissa enjoys her work as a Federal Contract mediator for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and various other organizations. She is also on the panel of mediators for various District Court and County Court judges in the greater Houston area.

Melissa has been trainer and lecturer at Manousso Mediation & Arbitration, LLC for many years. Along with Dr. Barbara Manousso, she trains new mediators in the 40-Hour Basic Mediation Course, Advanced Mediation Course (Divorce/Child Custody), Arbitration, Parent Coordination/Facilitation Training Course, and Elder & Adult Care Mediation. Melissa has also presented at multiple international conferences. She relishes the opportunity to meet and teach so many future and current fellow ADR professionals.

Melissa brings fresh energy to lectures and mediations replete with sensitivity toward differences, as well as notable enthusiasm to help the parties and the community. She is currently the Co-Convener of the Texas Mediation Trainers Roundtable (TMTR). Melissa is also a former President of the Association for Conflict Resolution – Houston Chapter.  She proudly serves these organizations and enjoys promoting mediation throughout the state.

Melissa graduated from Rice University (with high honors), and subsequently earned her J.D. from the SMU Dedman School of Law. Her legal experience includes working at the international law firm of Jones Day in Munich, Germany, where she assisted in preparing bilingual cross-border international contracts. She is well-versed in intercultural and interpersonal communications, and is fluent in Spanish and German.

Melissa is married to Kiernan McAlpine, a board certified personal injury attorney and partner at the Daspit Law Firm in Houston. Upon special request, Melissa draws upon her experience in conflict resolution to assist her husband with jury selection. Above-all, Melissa is dedicated to helping parties find peace and move forward. She truly loves all things mediation and is deeply honored to serve as the TAM president.
Kim Sullivan, President-Elect
Kim Sullivan is the Director of the Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution Office for the University of Texas at Austin and the President Elect of the Texas Association of Mediators. After years as a litigator, Kim is passionate about alternative dispute resolution and restorative justice, because she has seen these collaborative processes transform conflict into breakthrough opportunities for organizations and improve participants’ lives through empathetic and future-focused discussions. Kim studies and utilizes neuropsychology, mindfulness techniques, and interest-based negotiation theory in trainings and disputes to help parties deal with their root communication and conflict issues in a more holistic way.

Kim previously served as a federal tax and labor and employment attorney for the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and National Treasury Employees Union. She has extensive experience in employee relations, organizational effectiveness training, and alternative dispute resolution models. Kim has worked with a diverse group of employees, managers, and executives in federal, private, and academic sector settings including work in both unionized and non-unionized environments. In her current role, Kim serves as a neutral third party for campus issues.

In addition to workplace disputes, Kim has mediated small claims, harassment prevention orders, employment discrimination, landlord tenant, divorce, property disputes, higher education conflicts, labor contract negotiation issues, construction and contractor issues, tax controversy, and business negotiation conflicts.

Kim is a graduate of UMASS Amherst and Yale Law School and is licensed to practice law in both Massachusetts and Texas. Before moving to Austin, Kim taught, coached, and practiced mediation with the Harvard Mediation Program. She is a Credentialed Advanced Mediator with the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association and is active with the State Bar of Texas ADR section and the State Bar Committee on Women in the Profession.
Daniel Martinez, Director
A South Texas native, Daniel D. Martinez, is an emerging voice in the field of alternative dispute resolution. Daniel believes that interpersonal conflict is an unavoidable attribute of the human condition. As a result, Daniel chooses to embrace moments of conflict as an ongoing series of opportunities to better understand one another.

Daniel is Senior Attorney and Deputy Liaison Counsel with Chavez Legal Group, Staff Counsel to Fred Loya Insurance. In his dual roles as both a litigator and business development liaison, Daniel works daily on troubleshooting and managing various conflicts between the Company, and Staff and Outside Counsel Attorneys around the nation.

Daniel has mediated real estate, family law, personal injury, and first-party property damage disputes. He has served as an Assistant Receiver in a complex partnership dissolution, and most recently, led a long-term facilitated dialogue between representatives of a municipality and various cyclist groups concerned about transportation safety. He is the youngest member of the Council for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar, and helps to organize ADR Roadshows around Texas to promote and teach skills that aid in dispute resolution.

Daniel studied History and Political Science at Yale University, taught with Teach for America in Miami, Florida, and attended the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City, where he attained a Certificate in Dispute Resolution.

When not in the office, you may find Daniel stalking redfish in the Laguna Madre or admiring his wife’s artwork. Daniel is married to Jessica Monroe Martinez. Their son is three years old.
Mark Sims, Director
Mark is an attorney-mediator with offices in Austin, Texas. He is a Credentialed Distinguished Mediator with the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association. Mark will co-chair the 2020 TAM conference in Austin. Mark is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and has Finance and Marketing degrees from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a former chair of the Lawyer Referral Service of Central Texas and volunteers regularly for Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas leading a pro se clinic regarding family law matters. He has been awarded the J. Chrys Dougherty Award by the Austin Bar Association in recognition of his volunteer efforts.
Danette Ross Watson, Director
Danette is a Distinguished Credentialed Mediator with the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association and Certified Mediator/Assessor with the Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution. She has been mediating cases for nearly 20 years with an extensive background as a mediator, facilitator, consultant and trainer. Her areas of practice include separation and divorce; high-conflict family and domestic issues; public policy, workplace and EEO; civil and mental health care conflict management. Most recently she completed the 40-hour basic crisis/hostage negotiations training with the Texas Association of Hostage Negotiators. Danette holds a master's degree in conflict resolution from Concordia College and University, and has received extensive training in various styles and practices of mediation.
Darcy Thompson, Director
Darcy Thompson, M.Ed., is a retired educator, experienced alternativedispute resolution (ADR) professional, Texas Association of Mediators (TAM) member, and Texas Mediator Credentialing Association Credentialed Advanced Mediator. She has mediated high conflict civil and church disputes. She has also successfully facilitated hundreds of challenging meetings among teachers, parents and professional staff during nearly thirty years in public education. Currently, Darcy is a member of several ADR organizations including TAM, the Montgomery County Dispute Resolution Center (advisory board); The Association for Conflict Resolution, Houston Chapter (advisory board); and the Texas Mediation Trainers Roundtable. Darcy’s focus is in the areas of civil disputes and peer mediation training.
Maggie Fox Shahrestani, Newsletter Editor
Maggie is a graduating student at Texas Law and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. A student of global history and creative writing in college, she has always been fascinated by diverse languages and perspectives. She discovered mediation in graduate school and fell in love with the process of helping people see and hear one another more clearly. She interned at the University of Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution Office and is now studying for the bar exam this summer. She looks forward to developing her own mediation practice and staying plugged into the passionate community of mediators here in Texas.
Deanna Morrice, Newsletter Editor
Deanna Morrice is currently a Master’s candidate at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work with an anticipated graduation date of August, 2019. She is currently at the Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution office at the University of Texas at Austin under the supervision of TAM’s president-elect, Kimberly Sullivan. Deanna has a B.A. in English from Colgate University and a J.D. from Cornell Law School. Deanna enjoys volunteering with older adults and leading groups in the community.
Thoughts From the President-Elect


Kimberly Sullivan

Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution Office at University of Texas
I want to thank TAM and its members for the opportunity to serve the organization as the next President Elect. I am so honored and excited to accept this important role.
 
Given our current political and social climate, I believe we as mediators have a unique opportunity to help create positive ripple effects with every party we touch. Whether we are committed public servants serving our governments or communities, private mediators helping parties to maintain their dignity through life’s most difficult moments, or teachers and trainers sharing our knowledge and expertise with the next generation, we are all peacemakers.
 
Our important work allows us to model effective communication, empathetic listening, and collaborative problem solving to all those that request our services. Beyond that one dispute, we are actually empowering humans everywhere with new communication and conflict management tools that can not only resolve the issue before them, but also potentially mend relationships that have been impacted.
 
My personal intention in this work is that every organization creates alternative options for conflict resolution that strengthen communication and relationships, get us back in touch with our humanness, and generate peace within our organizations and for the world.
 
That’s a big intention for one person. That’s why it takes all of you to carry that intention out in the work you are lucky to perform each and every day.
 
Together, in each new moment, we have the chance to shift our world in a different direction; a direction that moves us closer to unconditional love, true empathy for those that are different from us, and towards the creation of new possibilities.
 
During my time in this role, I look forward to building and strengthening bridges. We can bring in new mediators and students and connect them with our experienced members who have been committed to this field for decades. We can build a bridge between mediators and other ADR practitioners doing important work in fields like restorative justice where we can share our practices and support one another. Finally, and most importantly, are the relationships we have with one another. We can continue to strengthen the bridge we have between our attorney mediators and mediators from other professional backgrounds. We are all mediators. We can change the world in so many positive ways. Together.
Members on the Move
Cynthia Allen, of Allen Mediation Group in Austin, recently completed her Master of Arts in Law.
Ms. Allen has devoted her professional career to public service. She served in the United States Army from 1983 to 1990. After her honorable discharge from the Army in 1990 she began a career in the Federal civil service where she served in various positions/agencies until retiring from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She retired from DHS in October 2015 with a total of 27 years of public service. Ms. Allen earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Services from Thomas Edison State College, Trenton, NJ and completed a Master’s in Law, with a concentration in Mediation from Regent University School of Law, Virginia Beach, VA in December 2018.
Robert Matlock, of Woods and Matlock, P.C., has new offices and phone numbers, listed below.
Woods & Matlock
205 West Louisiana, Ste 103
McKinney, Texas 75069
9300 John Hickman Parkway, Ste 701 Frisco, Texas 75035
Phone: 972.972.8820 Fax: 972.972.8821
Legislative Update
By Diane Harvey
There is a lot of activity at the Texas Capitol! In continuing our look at Texas legislative developments coming out of this session, a number of bills have been identified that may be of interest to us. They range broadly in topic, including public education, taxation, insurance, criminal justice and family law. 

Some examples are as follows:

HB 71 by Hinojosa relates to rules and policies of the Texas Education Agency regarding public involvement, complaints, negotiated rulemaking, alternative dispute resolution, and advisory committees.

HB 1742 by Smithee relates to the mediation of the settlement of certain health benefit claims involving balance billing by out-of-network laboratories.

SB 495 by Hughes relates to the establishment, operation, and funding of victim-offender mediation programs; authorizing fees.

There are also about 50 bills that relate to required reporting in Family Code Ch. 261, that are proposing a change to the language regarding abuse, from the current “reason to believe” to “actual knowledge”. It’s unknown whether those bills will be referred to committee and/or will make it to the floor. One such bill is HB 4189.

Special thanks to Joey Halbert, Austin attorney and mediator, for following the legislative filings for us! Below is a sample of his most recent report. For the very latest on these and other bills, see https://capitol.texas.gov/ .
86(R) SB 495
Author: Hughes
Caption: Relating to the establishment, operation, and funding of victim-offender mediation programs; authorizing
Senate Committee: Criminal Justice

86(R) SB 797
Author: Alvarado
Caption: Relating to collective bargaining and conditions of employment for fire fighters and police officers in certain political subdivisions.
Senate Committee: State Affairs

86(R) SB 1591
Author: Whitmire
Caption: Relating to prohibited balance billing and an independent dispute resolution program for out-of-network coverage under certain managed care plans; authorizing a fee.
Senate Committee: Business & Commerce
86(R) HB 54
Author: Zerwas
Caption: Relating to the system for protesting or appealing certain ad valorem tax determinations.
House Committee: Ways & Means

86(R) HB 571
Author: Hinojosa
Caption: Relating to rules and policies of the Texas Education Agency re: public involvement, negotiated rulemaking, and alternative dispute resolution.
House Committee: Public Education

86(R) HB 1061
Author: Minjarez
Caption: Relating to mandatory arbitration as a condition of employment.
House Committee: Business & Industry 
2019 TAM Conference Photos
Courtesy of Walter Wright
2019 TAM Conference Sponsors
GOLD LUNCHEON SPONSORS
ADR Section
SILVER LUNCHEON SPONSORS
BREAK SPONSORS
CONTRIBUTORS
Laury Adams - SHAZ Cosmetics

Mediation Events & Happenings
Update from North Texas TAM
NT TAM recently held a meeting to discuss areas of their practice where they felt they could grow their skills through additional training. This led to a discussion of upcoming programming. Don Swift sent the following update:

May 21, 2019              Domestic Violence (what we need to know as mediators)
July 16, 2019               Ethics
September 17, 2019    Cultural Nuance
November 19, 2019     Holiday Party (best night)
January 21, 2020         Judges’ Panel (specifics on mediation from the bench)
March 17, 2020            Inter-generational Differences

We will work toward CLEs and CEUs for each of the programs. If you apply for credentialing each year, these CLEs and CEUs are important for your applications. Please add these dates to your calendars and plan to attend.

Also, for those of you who may not know, there are no prerequisites to attend our meetings. There are no dues, nor do you have to have a mediation practice. We welcome the new mediator. 

If you have questions about NT TAM, please email Don Swift at don@donswiftandassociates.com .
TAM "Keep Calm" Shirts
Now Available!
TAM "Keep Calm" T-Shirts were such a hit when introduced at our 2017 Annual Conference. Now, you can purchase your TAM tee on-line!

$20 Plus $5 S&H

Texas Association of Mediators
P.O. Box 2537
Galveston, TX 77553-2537