Upchurch Watson White & Max welcomes experienced dispute resolution professional Lawrence H. Kolin to its panel of neutrals this month. Mr. Kolin is an AV® peer-review rated lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell and a Supreme Court of Florida Certified Circuit-Civil & Appellate Mediator and Qualified Arbitrator. He often handles resolution of complex multi-party cases.

Upchurch Watson White & Max mediators always work anywhere their services are engaged, but we took a big step forward on Nov. 4, 2013, by opening a convenient office with roomy conference spaces in Plantation/Fort Lauderdale. We recently celebrated the anniversary of the opening of our Plantation office with a dinner at the nearby Capriccio Ristorante, and now we've posted a Facebook album commemorating the event.

Florida born, raised and educated, attorney K. Judith "Judi" Lane will continue to serve the local legal community -- and the community at large -- as mediation counsel for Upchurch Watson White & Max. She will be based in the firm's Daytona Beach office but, like many UWWM mediators, able to travel nearly anywhere her services are needed. Ms. Lane has long been admired by members of the group as an excellent lawyer, and they welcomed her enthusiastically.

Upchurch Watson White & Max is wrapping up Mediation Week by offering yet another complimentary resource on its Website. The most recent addition is an e-book, How to Select the Best Mediator, written by UWWM Dispute Resolution Counsel Brandon Peters. This e-book contains valuable input from other highly-experienced legal professionals.

Robert A. Cole, a shareholder with Upchurch Watson White & Max, became "one of the few" special masters in the state to conduct a federal foreclosure auction as he completed a $70 million real and personal property sale today on the steps of the Orange County Courthouse. Ordinarily, a U.S. Marshal would conduct such an auction, but the parties to a lawsuit captioned Grande Palisades Loan Holdings LLC v. Lake Austin Properties I Ltd. agreed to the appointment of a special master to hasten the process. "It's an honor to be appointed a special master in order to assist the court and the parties in moving the case forward procedurally and ultimately to final resolution," Mr. Cole said.

Two Upchurch Watson White & Max shareholders have become deeply involved in the upcoming observation of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution's Mediation Week 2014 -- Oct. 12 to 18. Also, a UWWM mediator will be a panelist at a Miami Mediation Week event on Oct. 16, and another has organized a complimentary educational Webinar. Richard Lord, a shareholder with the group, became co-chair of the ABA section's Mediation Committee and took part in regional outreach for the section as it encouraged and coordinated promotion of the week's activities.

Case information provided to a mediator before a mediation conference can be cryptic, incomplete and highly positional. Mediators need quality input to formulate an effective strategy for settling a case to the satisfaction of the parties. Even the most experienced professional neutral cannot achieve a meaningful understanding of the litigants, their interests, and the fundamentals of a dispute from a single-page letter summary. Hence, the importance of pre-mediation submissions. Shave many hours off of the time normally required to produce such a document with the aid of our template.

Seven UWWM attorney-mediators in Florida and Alabama were selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2015. Rodney A. Max, a principal with the firm, additionally was named Best Lawyers' 2014-'15 Mediation "Lawyer of the Year" in two different metropolitan areas.