Today's Thought (Kenneth Cloke, JD)

Kenneth Cloke JD: Center for Dispute Resolution

The Center for Dispute Resolution is a private multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural association of professionals with wide experience in conflict resolution, and additional expertise as attorneys, arbitrators, managers, psychologists, consultants, trainers and educators who use conflict resolution techniques -- especially mediation -- to prevent, manage, settle and resolve disputes, avoid litigation and improve their capacity to reach resolution in a wide variety of conflicts.

The Center has had fifteen years experience resolving complex organizational, interpersonal and public policy disputes, including grievance and workplace disputes, wrongful termination, employment discrimination and sexual harassment claims, neighborhood conflicts, divorces, family and partnership disputes, intra-organizational and commercial conflicts, among others.

The Center also regularly conducts trainings, facilitations, consultations and coaching sessions in conflict resolution and collaborative negotiation techniques for corporations, labor unions, non-profits, school districts, public agencies and individuals in the United States and abroad.

The Center also regularly conducts trainings in effective communication, team building, leadership, strategic planning, envisioning, consensus building, prejudice reduction and bias awareness, conducting effective meetings, organizational change, improving quality and customer service, and feedback, performance assessment and evaluation.

In addition, the Center offers full mediation certification classes several times a year for individuals, schools and organizations seeking training in becoming a mediator. The Center also works with organizations to design conflict resolution systems, including peer mediation programs for students and employees, victim- offender reconciliation programs, and community mediators.

Stay Tuned for a lively discussion with Kenneth as we continue the important, ongoing discussion of creative arbitration, forgiveness, and self-forgiveness.

1. Kenneth, please share a little of your educational background and then some of your professional-career background?

2. When did you decide you wanted to be an attorney? What was your idea of legal practice before going into law school and how did that transition during school and directly after passing the bar entering the working world?

3. Kenneth you have a very necessary profession, whose objectives stay close to establishing mutual respect and harmony to enhance co-creative efforts all of kinds, whether these your clients come together or part company and many times both. When did you determine that you had enough experience as an attorney and enough fairness through life experience to provide this service with complete self-confidence?

4. Did you choose this angle of mediation because you saw a need? Please give us a definition of litigation, and how litigation plays out in the courtroom and behind close doors as a mediator, that is if I am using the terminology correctly?

5. Tell us about the Center for Dispute Resolution and how this agency came into being. Tell us a little about the kinds of clients you have and how you are hired by two distinct parties to smooth out the wrinkles?

6. Kenneth, what have you discover fascinating about human nature and what makes the world go around, which assure you this is the perfect use of your specialized skills and human interest?

7. For fun and information can you quickly create a scenario involving more than one party showing how you are contacted and how you decide your services are best for what is requested by those parties, so we can see a variety of perspectives of the great work you do? Where does spirituality come into play here?

8. Lots of parties in the business of doing business with other parties often time have their own attorneys, risk managers, and quality assurance controllers. How do these agencies conclude they need someone from the outside over and above what legal resources already exist?

9.  A lot of times people can smell smoke before there is fire, meaning a legal battle is ensuing and there is definitely a difference between risk management and damage control. Are you willing to get involved even when both parties are almost in court, but not quite yet?

10. Is there a point where you ever draw the line and say, "Nope, I'm not getting involved with that," and if so, under what theoretical circumstance?

11. In our world the mellow-drama of good guys-bad guys plays out and in a black and white world it is easy to pick out who is who? How do you do your job without playing into that kind of energy? Are you the good guy, Kenneth?

12. I am going to interview Douglas Noll, are you familiar with that attorney and his show on dispute resolution? What do you think about that show? How many interview do you provide? Do you write articles? Do you have any books?

13. Your event schedule shows that you offer programs to certify another to be a mediator. Does this mean someone with your certification can do what you do? What guidelines govern the role and professional conduct of mediators locally and abroad? What are the pre-requisites to participate and benefit from the certification?

14. Kenneth here are a couple examples of descriptions for training seminars you offer:

Feb 11 Overview of historical, legal, social, systemic, psychological and spiritual aspects of conflict and approaches to resolution. Includes communication skills, story-telling, listening techniques, and an eight step mediation process.

Give us a little about that course.

Feb 25 Responding to intense emotions, techniques for handling anger, fear, grief and shame, responding to bullying, collaboratively negotiating agreements, caucusing, addressing cross-cultural conflicts, and ethical issues.

Give us a little information about this course and how your program encompasses such a generous offering.

15. I found you through the Omega Institute. Can you tell us a little about this foundation and why you affiliate? Kenneth, are you fulfilling your higher purpose? How do you know this?

16. What word of advice do you have for aspiring law student? What about a second year law student? Kenneth, please share with the audience a bit of wisdom, some measure that was useful in helping you find your path and stay on your path benefiting the world?