Judge Klein spent 28 years as a trial and eight years as an appellate court judge in Pennsylvania. He served as a trial judge in all parts of Philadelphia’s courts.& When first appointed, he was the youngest judge in the history of Pennsylvania. When Judge Klein was elected to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, its intermediate appellate court, he received a “highly recommended” rating from the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the endorsement of every major newspaper in the State that made judicial endorsements. Retired from the bench, he is serving as a mediator, arbitrator and appellate consultant as “Of Counsel” with McElroy and Deutsch in Philadelphia. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College and an honor graduate of Harvard Law School. He won a National Merit Scholarship when he graduated from Friends’ Central School. He is co-author of the West Publication Thomson Reuters book, Trial Communication Skills, written with Body Language author Julius Fast and international lawyer Roberto Aron. He was awarded the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Sir Francis Bacon award, given to an individual who excels in the area of alternative dispute resolution and has had a significant professional impact in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the area of ADR. He also received the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s highest award for effective writing, the Clarity Award. He served for ten& years as co-chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution committee. He is founder and co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Plain English Committee. He is chair of the Pennsylvania Futures Commission in the 21st century, starting again to review and update a long-term plan for the Pennsylvania Justice system originally prepared 20 years ago. He served as educational leader for legal-study tours sponsored by the Corporation for Professional Conferences, having led 18 such trips, including trips to Russia, China, Greece, Thailand, Vietnam, France, Egypt, and the Czech Republic and Hungary, and South Africa. He served for fifteen years as an adjunct lecturer at Temple University Law School. Judge Klein frequently lectures on Alternative Dispute Resolution, Effective Writing, Trial and Appellate Advocacy, AI and Chatbots in Litigation, Legal Ethics, and other topics. He is past president of the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. He also is the drummer and leader of the jazz groups, “The Reading Terminals” and “The Moonlighters.”

Ms. Coleman is a civil litigation attorney, mediator, and arbitrator with the law firm of Riley, Hewitt, Witte & Romano, P.C. in Pittsburgh. She received her B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1979 and her J.D. from St. Louis University in 1982, where she was a senior staff member of the St. Louis University Law Journal. In 1983, she received her M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh. She is admitted to the practice of law in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Over the years, Ms. Coleman’s practice has included the defense of personal injury, toxic tort, asbestos, medical malpractice, employment, product liability, insurance sales practices, civil rights, and other types of civil litigation. Additionally, she received certificates from Harvard Law School’s Program of Instruction for Lawyers for completing its Mediation Workshop and Negotiation Workshop. Ms. Coleman serves as a mediator and arbitrator privately, for various organizations and the courts. She is the Past Chair of the Allegheny County Bar Association Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee and serves on the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Special Fee Determination Committee. She is the former editor of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee’s newsletter, Resolution; was the chair of the PBA ADR Committee from 2020-2021 and co-chair of the PBA ADR Committee from 2021-2022 and 2022-2023; and she served as the former chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee’s Court-Annexed Mediation Programs Subcommittee. Ms. Coleman was appointed to the Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission’s Advisory Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution.  She recently served as a member of the Allegheny County Mediation Task Force.  Ms. Coleman is the recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee’s 2022 Sir Francis Bacon Award. She is the author of published articles and a frequent speaker on the subject of ADR.

Kristina practices in the areas of Family Law and Juvenile Dependency and provides mediation services in Family Law. Kristina graduated from York College of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology focusing on exceptional child development and “abnormal” psychology. She attended Widener Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, graduating in 2018. Kristina served as a law clerk intern for the Honorable Martin Carlson, Federal Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Upon admission to the Bar in 2018, Kristina briefly practiced Family and Civil Law in Lancaster County before accepting a position as a law clerk to the Honorable Andrea Marceca Strong in the Court of Common Pleas of York County in April 2019. Upon completion of her clerkship in October 2020, Kristina joined the Allie Law Group, as an associate attorney. In September 2021, Kristina she joined the firm of Ream, Carr, Markey, Woloshin & Hunter, LLP, as a partner. Kristina opened a solo practice in February 2023 focused on family law, dependency, and mediation. Kristina is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) and is Secretary of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee, and member of the Children’s Rights and the Collaborative Law Committees. Kristina is also a member of the York County Bar Association, where she is an active member of the Family Law Section, serves as Liaison for domestic violence issues for the Family Law Section, and is Secretary/Treasurer for the York County Young Lawyers Section.  Kristina volunteers with community organizations, including the Wills for Heroes program, providing free will and estate planning for members of the military and first responders, as well as the Bartz Brigade, which focuses on veteran suicide prevention and awareness through various programs and events.

With thirty-two years of civil litigation experience Nancy is very much aware that there are many disputes for which alternate dispute resolution is a more appropriate path than traditional litigation. Because of her extensive litigation experience and training in alternative dispute resolution, and her subject matter expertise, she is frequently retained to serve as an arbitrator or mediator. In terms of mediation, Nancy mediates disputes pre-suit, or at the appropriate time in the life of a litigated case. As a mediator her goal is to analyze and help streamline complex issues to assist parties and counsel with achieving timely, appropriate, and cost-effective solutions to disputes. She is sensitive to the people challenges and emotional components that can sometimes infuse many disputes, and engages in active listening and productive communication and work creatively and constructively with parties and counsel to achieve successful mediated outcomes.

Clymer Bardsley has more than 20 years of experience as a lawyer, mediator, trainer, and coach.  Currently, he mediates matters involving family law and special education law. Clymer also teaches and trains people in mediation and conflict resolution.  He has been a faculty member in Adult and Organizational Development at Temple University, where he teaches Mediation, Negotiation, Team Development, and Interpersonal Communication.  He is also an instructor for the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Teachers College at Columbia University. Clymer mediates and facilitates for Pennsylvania’s Office for Dispute Resolution, which focuses on Special Education matters. Throughout his career he has helped thousands of individuals to increase their productivity by reducing the conflict in their personal and professional lives. Clymer earned his law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York and his B.A. in History from Middlebury College.

Ms. Weintraub is an attorney, dispute resolution practitioner, entrepreneur and business executive, and is a bestselling author.  She is founder of Weintraub Legal Services, a firm offering business law services and dispute resolution services.  She is a distinguished neutral for the International Institute of Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), a mediator and arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and FINRA, and a certified mediator with the International Mediation Institute.  She has published many articles on ADR in the Legal Intelligencer and Philadelphia Business Journal and has presented numerous ADR CLEs.  Judy is also the founder of SkillBites, LLC, a publishing firm specializing in the publishing of books by entrepreneurs and professionals.

Brooks Foland brings over three decades of legal experience to his role as a mediator. With a background as an advocate and litigator, he has been involved in numerous mediations spanning various areas such as personal injury, product liability, professional liability and insurance coverage. Over the years, he has honed his skills through formal mediation training and collaborating with a diverse range of ADR (alternative dispute resolution) professionals. Drawing from this wealth of experience, Brooks approaches each mediation with a nuanced understanding of the most effective strategies. He has mediated approximately 75 cases across multiple domains.

Ms. Grossman has devoted her career exclusively to Family Law since graduating from Temple University Law School in 1991. She is a 1988 cum laude graduate from Brandeis University. Having spent the first 15 years of her legal career as an advocate and most recent 15 as a Family Court Master in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Ms. Grossman founded the Family Arbitration and Mediation Center in 2017. In 2020, she merged the Center with the law firm of Potts & Shoemaker, now Potts, Shoemaker & Grossman, LLC whereby she leads the firm’s alternative dispute resolution department and has resumed the representation of individuals in their domestic relations matters. Ms. Grossman is a certified mediator and completed the arbitration certification program of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She has used her experience as a master and arbitrator to train other arbitrators. She also holds a graduate tax certificate in estate planning, and is a past-chair of the Montgomery Bar Association Family Law Section. Additionally, Ms. Grossman has served on Council to the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section and has been a frequent author and lecturer for the American Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Institute and Pennsylvania Bar Association Continuing Legal Education programs in all areas of family law and alternative dispute resolution. Ms. Grossman is past-president of the Brandywine Valley Chapter of CISV (formerly, Children’s International Summer Villages), an international peace education organization; and sits on the board of the West Chester Area Child Access Center, which provides free supervised visitation for parents and their children.

His succession “next step” in practice, Mr. Fitzsimons is the principal at ADRFitz LLC which provides Process Centered dispute resolution services. About five years ago David took stock of his experience, values and forward looking preferences and decided to focus his commercial litigation experience and practice in disputes resolution to establish ADRFitz LLC. In addition to conducting mediations, Mr. Fitzsimons also serves as an arbitrator, trainer and dispute resolution consultant. A certified member of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s Mediator Panel, he is currently chair of the Cumberland County ADR panel. Mr. Fitzsimons maintains relevant memberships in the dispute resolution arena and is active with the PBA ADR Committee and the PBA Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee [LEPRC]. David also teaches successful dispute resolution process skills including focus on relevant professional ethics involved in dispute resolution. He maintains a perpetually under construction website at ADRFitz.com. Any questions or requests for follow up materials to this presentation can be directed to
david@adrfitz.com