Upping Your Game: Skills Intensive for Public Sector Mediators

Toby Treem Guerin, JD is the managing director for the Center for Dispute Resolution at Maryland Carey Law and clinical instructor for its Mediation Clinic. Professor Guerin has over 15 years experience mediating and facilitating in various public sector venues including state and federal government agencies, public institutions, and court systems. Ms. Guerin served as the primary author for the “Alternative Dispute Resolution Landscape: An Overview of ADR in the Maryland Court System,” a comprehensive report on court-affiliated ADR programs in Maryland. She was involved in the state-wide development of the mediator quality assurance initiative in Maryland. Prior to joining Maryland Carey Law she administered the agricultural mediation program at the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Ms. Guerin conducts trainings on topics such as basic and advanced mediation, co-mediation, elicitive feedback, mentoring, and effective communication, among others.

Anastasia Watson Smith, JD is the Director of Special Projects for the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Center for Dispute Resolution, and provides faculty support to the Mediation Clinic. Ms. Smith graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in Economics and received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. As an attorney she practiced for several years in the areas of corporate, health care and higher education law. Ms. Smith mediates regularly in Baltimore in contract, small claims, landlord/tenant matters, and employment discrimination matters, and mediates in Anne Arundel County as a community mediator. She has provided professional trainings on dispute resolution, strategic negotiation, effective communication, advanced mediation skills, ethics and restorative practices in a variety of settings. Ms. Smith is a member of the Maryland Bar and the section on Alternative Dispute Resolution, and the Maryland Program for Mediator Excellence.