Mediator/arbitrator A. Michelle Jernigan , a shareholder with Upchurch Watson White & Max, recently gave a presentation, "Should You Be...

Three mediators from Upchurch Watson White & Max are playing a role in The Jacksonville Bar Association ADR Practitioners Committee's 10th annual Northeast Florida CME Seminar for Mediators on Thursday, June 2, 2016. UWWM's Robert A. "Bob" Cole is committee chair and planned the entire program with mediator Jake Schickel. This year's course will be at its customary venue, Florida Coastal School of Law, 8787 Baypine Road, Jacksonville. The course is eligible for up to 8.0 Continuing Mediation Education hours, including 4.0 Ethics, 2.0 Domestic Violence, 1.0 Diversity and 1.0 General. Mediators are required to self-report hours applicable to their areas of certification at the time of their renewal.

"Arbitration has been a hot topic this year, whether in the form of coming changes to consumer and class arbitration or developments in cross-border and international agreements," says mediator and arbitrator Lawrence Kolin, who will speak on the topic from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, June 1, 2016. Gary Salzman, a shareholder at GrayRobinson, P.A., Esq. and Beppy Owen, a partner at Akerman, will join Lawrence to present "Arbitration: An Alternative to Dispute Resolutions," a complimentary continuing legal education seminar at the Orange County Bar Association Center, 880 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, Fla. "We plan to cover the nuts and bolts of the process, as well as hints in avoiding traps while drafting arbitration provisions at the outset," Lawrence says.

Carl B. Schwait, formerly senior and managing partner for local law firm Dell Graham, P.A., has joined Upchurch Watson White & Max's panel, bolstering the mediation group's presence in North Central Florida. Mr Schwait intends to center his dispute resolution practice geographically along a corridor between Inverness and Lake City, but, like other UWWM mediators, he will travel wherever his clients desire. "I look forward to working with Upchurch Watson White & Max in helping the lawyers and citizens of Florida to settle their cases," Mr. Schwait says. Mr. Schwait is already well known among attorneys in the Eighth Judicial Circuit (Levy, Alachua, Gilchrist, Union, Bradford and Baker counties); he is serving his sixth term as the circuit's sole representative to the Florida Bar Board of Governors and has long been active in the local bar association.