Thursday, February 5th

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Our special guest this week, Dr. Keld Jensen, Professor, author, negotiation strategist will Present on:

What If We’ve Been Negotiating the Wrong Way Since 1776?

What if many of today’s conflicts in business, work, and partnerships aren’t caused by lack of resources — but by outdated negotiation thinking?

In this episode, negotiation expert Dr. Keld Jensen challenges the 18th-century, win-lose mindset that still dominates how we negotiate contracts, deals, and relationships. Drawing on modern research and real-world cases, he explains how changing the design of negotiations — not pushing harder — can unlock up to 42% additional value.

The conversation explores why traditional bargaining creates waste, mistrust, and friction, and what a smarter, more collaborative approach looks like in practice.

If you care about better deals, stronger relationships, and sustainable results without burning bridges, this episode will change how you think about negotiation.

When you’re thinking about where to donate, please consider supporting Feeding America

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Our presenter:

Dr. Keld Jensen, Founder of SMARTnership Negotiation Organization

Professor Keld Jensen, a widely acclaimed author, has penned 27 books that have been published in 38 countries. He holds the position of an associate professor at four esteemed universities, and his expertise is sought by major private and governmental institutions worldwide. Additionally, Prof. Jensen has graced the stage as a TEDx speaker, captivating audiences with his insights.

Offered by Will Work For Food, founded by Natalie Armstrong-Motin (www.HowToMarketMyMediationPractice.com, moderated by Jeff Kichaven (www.JeffKichaven.com ), Jean Lawler (www.LawlerADR.com), and Program Coordinator, David Shraga (www.DavidShraga.com).

This worldwide conversation will be like nothing else.  Join in!  Share, learn, have fun, and raise money for food banks.

Thursday, February 12th

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Our special guest this week, Julie Swidler, GC & EVP of Sony Music will Present on:

Trust, Talent, and Timing: Negotiation Lessons from a Career Resolving Music Industry Disputes

The music industry operates on a mix of contracts, creativity, ego and long memory.  In this close-knit ecosystem, successful dispute resolution therefore depends as much on timing, trust and relationship management as it does on legal leverage. 

In this session, Julie Swidler, the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Sony Music,  will share lessons learned from years of resolving disputes involving artists, producers, and global business partners, while highlighting the business realities and cultural dynamics that outsiders often miss. 

As the veteran GC of one of the world’s leading music companies, Julie has guided teams of lawyers, creatives, and businesspeople around the world through an unprecedented period of disruption and innovation.  As a result, Julie offers a truly unparalleled perspective on the music industry’s enduring and evolving patterns, and will reflect on what changes, what doesn’t, and why certain approaches consistently succeed. 

Attendees can expect to gain concrete insight into:

·                  how mediators can add value by understanding industry pressure points.

·                  the mediator behaviors that are most effective

·                  the pitfalls that derail otherwise promising talks, and

·                  how industry-specific business considerations shape settlement decisions long before anyone enters a mediation room.

When you’re thinking about where to donate, please consider supporting your local food bank

Register Here

Our presenter:

Julie Swidler is one of the music industry’s most accomplished business affairs executives, currently serving as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Sony Music Entertainment. 

Since 2008, she has led Sony’s global legal, business and government affairs, shaping major negotiations, artist contacts and strategic ventures including the company’s expansion into podcasting. Her pioneering impact has been recognized with numerous honors: she was the first label executive and first woman to receive the Grammy Foundation’s ELI Service Award and has also been awarded the Music Business Association’s Presidential Award, alongside repeated recognition by Billboard and the T.J. Martell Foundation.

Throughout her career, Swidler has played key roles at PolyGram, Arista and J Records prior to joining Sony Music. She is known for her advocacy on behalf of artists and her commitment to diversity having served on the Recording Academy’s Task Force on diversity and inclusion, which led to meaningful industry reforms. 

Beyond her executive work, she is deeply involved in philanthropy including leadership with the T.J. Martell Foundation and in 2023, she was elected Chair of the Board of Trustees for Union College, her alma mater.

Offered by Will Work For Food, founded by Natalie Armstrong-Motin (www.HowToMarketMyMediationPractice.com, moderated by Jeff Kichaven (www.JeffKichaven.com ), Jean Lawler (www.LawlerADR.com), and Program Coordinator, David Shraga (www.DavidShraga.com).

This worldwide conversation will be like nothing else.  Join in!  Share, learn, have fun, and raise money for food banks.

Thursday, February 19th

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Our special guest this week, Adam Levitt, Founding Partner, DiCello Levitt LLP will Present on:

The Path to the Finish Line: Successful Mediations and Potential Pitfalls in Class Action and Mass Tort Cases

We’ll be discussing some of the "hot button" issues in class action and mass tort mediations and how mediators can optimally work with the parties to avoid the early breakdowns and really make meaningful progress.

When you’re thinking about where to donate, please consider supporting Greater Chicago Food Depository

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Our presenter:

Adam Levitt is one of the nation’s leading advocates for plaintiffs in complex, multidistrict, class action, public client, mass tort, and commercial litigation. Drawing on his extensive experience pursuing and obtaining justice for those who have been wronged by powerful defendants, he co-founded DiCello Levitt to create a top complex issues and trial firm, built on excellence, trust, and respect—where every team member’s voice and talents are valued.

In his decades-long career, Adam has scored numerous significant and precedent-setting victories, delivering more than $25 billion in recoveries to clients in biotechnology, financial services, securities, insurance coverage, consumer protection, automotive defects, agricultural products, and antitrust disputes. His reputation for innovatively taking on tough cases has led to his appointment to leadership positions in many historic and headline-grabbing litigations.

Adam is a leader in the legal profession and a frequent speaker on multidistrict litigation, consumer protection, automotive litigation, biotechnology, corporate governance, securities litigation, and internet privacy. Nationally recognized as an authority on class action litigation, Adam writes a monthly class action column in The National Law Journal, has testified before the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee on class action practice, and chairs an annual class action litigation conference in Chicago.

Offered by Will Work For Food, founded by Natalie Armstrong-Motin (www.HowToMarketMyMediationPractice.com, moderated by Jeff Kichaven (www.JeffKichaven.com ) and Jean Lawler (www.LawlerADR.com), LatAM moderator, Michael Schwimmer (www.SchwimmerMediation.com and Program Coordinator, David Shraga (www.DavidShraga.com).

This worldwide conversation will be like nothing else.  Join in!  Share, learn, have fun, and raise money for food banks.

Thursday, February 26, 2026

8 am Pacific / 11 am Eastern

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Our special guest this week, Jacinta Gallant, Mediator, Lawyer, Educator, will present on:

What's the Problem With Problem-Solving!?!

Mediators and Lawyers are excellent problem-solvers. And that works well, because clients come to us for help solving a problem, right?! But have you ever met client resistance to your efforts to problem-solve? Have you puzzled over a client’s reaction when you're "just trying to help!"? In this webinar, we will learn to notice and work with resistance so that we can more productively engage in those difficult moments. And - bonus - your expertise with problem-solving will still be important, but it will know its place. (Problem-solving gets way too much attention in our line of work!)

When you’re thinking about where to donate, please consider supporting World Central Kitchen

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Our presenter:

Jacinta Gallant is a respected Canadian collaborative lawyer, mediator and educator. She is recognized internationally for her insightful and experiential approach to teaching and managing conflict, and has been welcomed as a trainer throughout the world.  Jacinta’s innovative resources, Our Family in Two Homes, and Designing Our Future Together help clients prepare to engage deeply, and productively, with Family Lawyers, Mediators. Jacinta’s podcast, The Authentic Professional, focuses on how professionals can bring more of who they are to what they do, and her latest book, Going Steady, helps engage couples in conversations that sustain and nourish their relationship.

Jacinta’s ultimate goal is to help conflict professionals engage with clients in a more meaningful way, manage conflict more effectively, and get more enjoyment out of this important work. 

Offered by Will Work For Food, founded by Natalie Armstrong-Motin (www.HowToMarketMyMediationPractice.com, moderated by Jeff Kichaven (www.JeffKichaven.com ) and Jean Lawler (www.LawlerADR.com), and Program Coordinator, David Shraga (www.DavidShraga.com).

This worldwide conversation will be like nothing else.  Join in!  Share, learn, have fun, and raise money for food banks.

Thursday, March 26, 2026

8 am Pacific / 11 am Eastern

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Our special guests this week are Victor Vital, Global Chair of Haynes Boone’s Trials Practice Group, Mark Trachtenberg, Partner and Emily Buchanan, Partner will present on:

Dispute Resolution in cases Presenting Nuclear Verdict Risk

When you’re thinking about where to donate, please consider supporting North Texas Food Bank

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Our presenters:

Victor Vital — the Global Chair of Haynes Boone’s Trials Practice Group and the Dallas Bar Association’s 2025 Trial Lawyer of the Year — is a nationally recognized trial lawyer trusted by general counsel, C-suite executives, and high-net-worth individuals to lead them in their most sensitive, challenging, and high-stakes disputes. Known for his cross-industry fluency, Victor brings strategic insight, courtroom command, and ability to connect with judges, juries, and arbitrators in matters spanning a wide range of sectors and matters. Victor was recently named the Dallas Bar Association’s Trial Lawyer of the Year and is ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA (Litigation: Trial Lawyers, 2024-2025). His verdicts have been nationally recognized in the National Law Journal’s Top 100 Verdicts and Courtroom View Network’s Top 10 Most Impressive Defense Verdicts.

Victor’s ability to rapidly master complex subject matter enables him to both shape compelling trial narratives and drive successful dispute resolution in a wide range of disputes such as business and commercial matters, intellectual property disputes, family and estate disputes, securities fraud, white collar criminal cases, and catastrophic injury and death cases.

Victor is a member of the highly selective, invitation-only American Law Institute (ALI), an honor reserved for the country’s most respected legal minds shaping and refining the future of American law. He is a frequent speaker, author, and educator on trial strategy and high-stakes litigation, and he continues to be a sought-after voice on major courtroom developments and matters.

With a reputation forged in courtrooms across the country and across industries, Victor is the advocate and adviser clients call when the stakes are high, the pressure is real, and the outcome matters.

Mark Trachtenberg represents major companies in high-stakes appeals, is proud to be recognized by his peers as a top lawyer in his field. He was named as a 2023 and 2025 Lawyer of the Year—Appellate Practice in Houston by The Best Lawyers in America directory. He was recognized as one of the top 100 lawyers in Texas and as one of the top appellate lawyers in the state by Texas Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters). And he is highly ranked in Chambers USA,

A highlight of Mark’s career has been his work on behalf of Texas public schools, an opportunity that arose from a law review article he authored on the history of Texas’s school finance litigation while at Yale Law School. Mark played a lead role in a lawsuit that resulted in an infusion of more than $2 billion for public schools in Texas. He later served as lead counsel at trial and on appeal for a coalition of 88 school districts in a second lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s school finance system.

Mark is a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the American Law Institute. He recently served as the chair of the Houston Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Section and currently serves as President of the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists (TACTAS) and Vice-President with the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society. Mark is also dedicated to his community, previously serving as the chair of the Southwest Region of the Anti-Defamation League and on the Education Policy Committee of the United Way of Greater Houston.

Emily Buchanan is a partner in the firm’s Litigation and Insurance Recovery Practice Groups in the Dallas office of Haynes Boone. Her practice focuses primarily on representing commercial policyholders in insurance coverage disputes. Emily advises clients regarding insurance programs and risk management efforts, as well as representing insureds in disputed insurance claims through negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, and litigation. Her experience spans a wide range of business insurance, including various liability coverages, property and casualty coverage, and other specialized forms of coverage. 

Emily routinely works as a volunteer attorney with the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program taking on pro bono matters, including intake clinics and preparing wills for pro bono clients. When she is not advising clients, Emily also serves as an adjunct professor at her alma mater, the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she teaches a course on insurance law. Prior to attending law school, Emily taught middle school social studies at a low socioeconomic school in Tyler, Texas.

Emily’s passion for helping others, coupled with a keen insight into complex insurance issues, allows her to provide clients with litigation strategies that maximize their insurance benefits in the most efficient way possible. 

Offered by Will Work For Food, founded by Natalie Armstrong-Motin (www.HowToMarketMyMediationPractice.com, moderated by Jeff Kichaven (www.JeffKichaven.com ) and Jean Lawler (www.LawlerADR.com), and Program Coordinator, David Shraga (www.DavidShraga.com).

This worldwide conversation will be like nothing else.  Join in!  Share, learn, have fun, and raise money for food banks.